According to Forbes, Jeff Bezos returned to an active operating role this week as co-CEO of Project Prometheus, an AI company emerging from stealth with over $6 billion in early funding. The startup focuses on applying advanced models to engineering and manufacturing across computers, vehicles, and spacecraft, with a team of nearly 100 people mostly from OpenAI, DeepMind, and Meta. Bezos shares leadership with former Google X scientist Vik Bajaj. Meanwhile, the European Commission softened last year’s AI Act, giving high-risk systems up to 18 additional months before compliance enforcement and updating data rules to allow broader AI training data reuse. The White House is reviewing an executive order that would centralize AI regulation federally and prevent states from creating conflicting rules.
The Bezos AI Gambit
Bezos jumping back into an operating role is huge. He’s not just investing – he’s running the show alongside a Google X veteran. And that $6 billion starting war chest? That’s more than most companies raise in their entire lifetime. They’re going straight for industrial applications too – manufacturing, vehicles, spacecraft. This isn’t about chatbots or image generators. They’re building AI that connects to physical production systems. Honestly, this feels like Bezos recognizing that the real AI money won’t be in consumer apps but in transforming how we build things. For manufacturers looking to integrate AI into their operations, having reliable industrial computing hardware becomes crucial – which is why companies like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com have become the go-to source for industrial panel PCs across the US.
Regulatory Whiplash
Here’s the thing about AI regulation right now: everyone’s pulling in different directions. Europe, which had been pushing the strictest rules, is now backing off. They’re delaying enforcement and making it easier to reuse data for training. Basically, they saw companies might avoid their market and got nervous. Meanwhile, the US might go the opposite direction – centralizing power in Washington to prevent a patchwork of state laws. But is that good? Supporters say companies need consistency. Critics worry it kills local innovation and oversight. The reality is we’re watching a massive experiment in real-time about how to govern technology that’s evolving faster than our legal systems can keep up.
AI Goes Practical
While everyone’s obsessed with foundation models, the real action might be in these specialized applications. Look at Stuut – $29.5 million to automate accounts receivable. That’s not sexy, but it solves real business problems. Albatross building better product discovery? Again, practical. Even Native Foreign’s AI-assisted animation pipeline shows how this technology is becoming production-ready rather than just experimental. These companies aren’t trying to build artificial general intelligence. They’re taking existing AI capabilities and applying them to specific, valuable problems. And honestly, that’s where the near-term money and impact will be.
VR Gets Real
HaptX finally shipping their full-body haptics system after a decade of development is significant. We’re talking about microfluidic gloves combined with whole-body tracking for industrial training and simulation. This isn’t gaming – this is serious professional tools. The fact that they’ve moved from suspended-in-midair concepts to a practical floor-based system shows how VR is maturing. It’s becoming less about entertainment and more about solving real business challenges in training, design, and remote collaboration. The technology is finally catching up to the vision.
