Nov 17 (Reuters) - Jeff Bezos will serve as co-chief

executive officer of a new artificial intelligence startup that

focuses on AI for engineering and manufacturing of computers,

automobiles and spacecraft, the New York Times reported on

Monday.

The company, called Project Prometheus, has garnered $6.2

billion in funding, partly from the Amazon ( AMZN ) founder,

making it one of the most well-financed early-stage startups in

the world, the report said, citing three people familiar with

the company.

This is the first time Bezos has taken a formal operational

role in a company since he stepped down as the CEO of Amazon ( AMZN ) in

July 2021. Though he is involved in Blue Origin, his official

title at the space firm is founder.

With the new startup, Bezos is entering a crowded AI market

with several smaller firms attempting to break through with new

software and products while in a race with industry mainstays

such as the Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed OpenAI, Meta and

Google.

Reuters could not independently verify the report.

Bezos and a representative did not immediately respond to a

Reuters request for comment.

Bezos' co-chief executive is Vik Bajaj, a physicist and

chemist who worked closely with Google's co-founder Sergey Brin

at Google's X, a research effort often called "The Moonshot

Factory," the report said.

Project Prometheus has already hired nearly 100 employees,

including researchers from top AI firms such as OpenAI, DeepMind

and Meta, according to the Times.