Elon Musk, the tech mogul, has called out Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who recently entered the artificial-intelligence (AI) space, as a "copycat." On Nov. 18, 2025, Musk fired his recent salvo on X, a social-media site.
"Haha no way . . . copy," Musk wrote. This response came after Bezos announced his US $6.2 billion investment in a new startup called Project Prometheus. Project Prometheus seeks to leverage AI in the engineering and development of manufacturing, aerospace and automotive industries.
Bezos's announcement is an interesting one for Musk because although he has backed numerous projects, Bezos is moving to play a more hands-on role in AI space by taking a dual CEO position. Notably, this will be Bezos's first operating role in a company since he departed Amazon in 2021.
Project Prometheus has been described by media reports as being in stealth mode with its main goal of using AI to solve computing hardware, automotive systems and aerospace manufacturing engineering challenges. With the US $6.2 billion in its latest funding round and Bezos on board, Project Prometheus will have its work cut out as a new entrant in an increasingly crowded global field of AI engineering. But is Musk right to throw Bezos shade by calling him a copycat?
Musk has made similar calls in the past. In fact, he also accused Bezos of copying him after Blue Origin entered the satellite internet industry and Bezos acquired Zoox, a self-driving vehicle startup.
However, this latest remark by Musk shows just how much all the different technology spaces are starting to intersect. The internet, space and AI were separate verticals, which have slowly started to cross paths through companies like Bezos's Blue Origin. At the same time, the line between traditional transportation systems and autonomous mobility solutions like self-driving vehicles is starting to become a bit fuzzy. For Bezos, Project Prometheus signals a new chapter after decades of retail and cloud-services market leadership to move into the world of deep-pocket, hardware-intensive AI manufacturing. For Musk, the new move by Bezos will bring some déjà vu while opening up some uncharted technical terrain.
It remains to be seen how the "copycat" label from Musk will stick with Project Prometheus or if it will motivate it more. However, there is no denying that Project Prometheus is walking into a crowded space of heavyweights. Musk's one-liner may have just set the stage for what is going to be one of the AI age's most closely watched rivalries.