Jeff Bezos aims to raise $100 billion to buy, revamp manufacturing firms with AI, WSJ reports

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.O 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.