Jeff Bezos just shared a new video of a giant $42 million mechanical clock designed to outlast the United States
- Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has funded the construction of a clock buried in a mountain in Texas that's designed to keep time for 10,000 years.
- The clock is a project of the Long Now Foundation.
- Bezos shared a video of the clock's construction on Tuesday.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos spends his fortune on a lot of interesting projects, such as The Washington Post, Blue Origin, and giant historical mansions.
But his most quixotic project may be the "10,000 year clock," in which he is funding the construction of a clock in the West Texas desert that's designed to keep time for millennia.
Bezos shared a new video of the construction of this clock on Tuesday. Check it out:
"Installation has begun - 500 ft tall, all mechanical, powered by day/night thermal cycles, synchronized at solar noon, a symbol for long-term thinking - the #10000YearClock is coming together thx to the genius of Danny Hillis, Zander Rose & the whole Clock team! Enjoy the video," Bezos tweeted.
Bezos isn't the brain behind the clock, he's just a backer, to the tune of $42 million. The clock is a project of a San Francisco-based group called The Long Now foundation, founded by Danny Hillis, according to a Wired profile of the clock from 2012.
Bezos is personally invested in the project because of his belief that humans need to plan for beyond our lifetimes.
"We humans have become so technologically sophisticated that in certain ways we're dangerous to ourselves. It's going to be increasingly important over time for humanity to take a longer-term view of its future," he told The Wall Street Journal in 2012.
"Over the lifetime of this clock, the United States won't exist," Bezos told Wired. "Whole civilizations will rise and fall. New systems of government will be invented. You can't imagine the world - no one can - that we're trying to get this clock to pass through."
Bezos isn't the only notable person involved in the construction of the giant clock. Musician Brian Eno and notable tech writers Kevin Kelly and Stewart Brand are involved in the clock's construction as well.