March 19 (Reuters) - Jeff Bezos is in early discussions

to raise $100 billion for a new fund that would acquire

manufacturing companies and seek to use AI to drive and speed up

automation, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

* The Amazon.com ( AMZN ) founder is holding talks with some

of the world's biggest asset managers to secure funding for the

project, WSJ said.

* Bezos traveled to the Middle East to discuss the new fund

with sovereign wealth representatives in the region a few months

ago, according to the report.

* Described in investor documents as a "manufacturing

transformation vehicle," the fund aims to target companies in

major industries such as chipmaking, defense, and aerospace, the

Journal said.

* Last year, The New York Times reported that Bezos would

serve as co-CEO of a new startup called Project Prometheus

focused on AI for engineering and manufacturing computers,

automobiles and spacecraft.

* Project Prometheus is separately in talks to raise up to

$6 billion in funding, WSJ said, citing people familiar with the

matter. It recently named David Limp, Blue Origin's CEO, to its

board of directors.

* Project Prometheus raised $6.2 billion late last year,

according to a Financial Times report from February.

* Bezos could not be immediately reached for comment. The

project's co-founders, Sherjil Ozair and William Guss, did not

respond to Reuters requests for comment on LinkedIn.

(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City)