American startup Prometheus, which develops artificial intelligence to automate the design and production of complex physical systems, announced the raising of $12 billion. According to the results of this investment round, the valuation of the company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos and former co-founder of Google’s biotechnology division Verily, Vic Bajaj, reached $41 billion.

As CNBC reports, this is the second round of funding for Prometheus. It launched late last year with an initial investment of $6.2 billion. The startup’s new investors, in addition to Jeff Bezos himself, are financial giants JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and investment firm BlackRock.

Prometheus focuses on creating what it calls an «artificial general engineer.» This is software designed to fully automate the design and manufacturing of high-tech physical systems, from jet engines to new pharmaceutical compounds. In effect, the developers aim to replace a significant portion of traditional engineering work with artificial intelligence.

Despite the fact that technology is automating many processes, Jeff Bezos believes that this will not lead to unemployment. On the contrary, in his opinion, the world expects a «labor shortage» when the demand for human labor exceeds the supply. This statement contradicts the predictions of other leaders in the technology sector, who fear mass layoffs due to the development of AI.

«A significant increase in productivity in the economy will raise the standard of living. Families where two people work today will become families with one income. Maybe some people who work overtime will simply stop doing it,» Bezos said in a comment to CNBC.

Prometheus currently employs 150 people in offices in San Francisco, London and Zurich. The company is keeping details of its current technology developments under wraps, but Bezos said that most of the capital raised will be used to cover its large-scale computing needs.

The $12 billion raised makes Prometheus one of the most valuable AI startups in the world and one of the largest investments in the field of physical artificial intelligence. According to industry analysts, developments at the interface of AI and the physical world are more protected from copying compared to purely software solutions, as real production creates additional barriers for competitors.