A Startup Called Warhound Is Genetically Engineering Dogs For The Military

Warhound, a new startup that has just raised $200 million in funding, aims to genetically engineer war dogs for the US military and fit them with high-tech gear. It’s a project by Colossal Biosciences’ Ben Lamm and Anduril’s Palmer Luckey. Lamm has told Wired that Warhound has already started editing genes of the cell samples taken from its first batch of donor dogs. Specifically, the startup collected samples from top-performing military, police and first responder dog breeds in the US, mostly Belgian Malinois, some labradors and some shepherds. The goal is to clone them after scientists working for Colossal have tweaked their genes.

Those scientists will initially focus on making them less likely to develop health conditions that commonly affect their breeds, such as hip dysplasia and certain cancers. In the future, Lamm thinks the dogs could be enhanced further. Scientist could incorporate more genetic changes to make them faster and more agile or to enhance their sense of smell, Lamm told TechCrunch. 

Luckey, if you’ll recall, founded Oculus VR and designed the Oculus Rift headset. His company Anduril teamed up with OpenAI in 2024 to develop AI for the Pentagon. More recently, it secured a contract with the US Army to create its next-gen battlefield intelligence system alongside Palantir. Meanwhile, Lamm’s biotech company is behind several “de-extinction” initiatives, including one that claims to have revived the dire wolf and another that aims to bring back the woolly mammoth.

So where does Luckey’s Anduril come in? Warhound doesn’t seem to have plans to create cyborg dogs — for now. Anduril will be designing tools and the software powering them, which will help protect the dogs while they work. Think goggles, vests and body armor. Luckey is a partner in the business, but neither he nor Anduril has a stake in the startup. Colossal Biosciences has equity in the company, and Lamm is on its board. David Spirk, who most recently worked at Palantir, now serves the startsup’s CEO.

Warhound expects its first batch of genetically engineered dogs to be born in early 2027. They will be trained to perform various tasks working dogs do, such as detect bombs and aid in search-and-rescue operations.