Warhound: The New $200M Startup Developing Genetically Optimized Working Dogs For U.S. Public Safety And Defense

A novel public-facing startup launched today with a deliberately low-fuss, non-alarming core mission: to create genetically enhanced service dogs for U.S. military units, law enforcement agencies, and frontline emergency first responders.

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Co-founded by Anduril founder Palmer Luckey and Colossal Biosciences co-founder Ben Lamm, Warhound has already raised $200 million in initial funding to "rebuild America’s fully domestic supply chain of elite working dogs" and reduce longstanding U.S. military reliance on European commercial dog breeders for service canines.

As Lamm shared in an interview with WIRED, Warhound is already deep in the gene-editing development process for its first cohort of modified dogs. The team has collected blood samples from high-performing, top-tier military, police, and first responder working dogs across the U.S., with an initial goal of cloning these proven elite animals. The program will prioritize "mostly Belgian Malinois, some Labrador Retrievers, and some German Shepherds" per Lamm, and the company anticipates the first round of modified puppies will be born in early 2027.

Early phases of gene editing will focus first on eliminating common, career-limiting breed-specific health conditions such as painful, mobility-reducing hip dysplasia. Looking further ahead, Lamm notes the team will explore far more ambitious functional upgrades, including inserting wolf-derived olfactory receptor genes to drastically enhance the military dogs' scent detection capabilities. For context, Colossal Biosciences is most widely known for its high-profile "Dire Wolf De-Extinction Project," which already centers extensive research into gene-edited wolf embryos.

Headquartered in Texas, Warhound also plans to pair its genetically optimized canines with what an official press release calls "Anduril’s advanced cybernetic augments, custom software, and battlefield situational awareness systems." When asked if this description meant the working dogs would be built into full cyborgs, Lamm clarified that near-term plans focus on external accessories like high-performance, lightweight advanced body armor, rather than surgically embedding any internal computer hardware in the dogs' bodies. Pressed directly by WIRED to confirm there were no plans for "dogs with lasers," Lamm declined a full answer: "I can’t comment on what Anduril has planned. Our core mission right now is canine safety and performance, continuing to strengthen the bond between human handlers and their working partners, and building more effective handler-dog teams."

Neither Luckey nor Lamm will manage Warhound's day-to-day operations, though Lamm will serve on the startup's board of directors. Its chief executive officer is David Spirk, former U.S. Department of Defense chief data officer who most recently held a senior leadership role at Palantir. Confirmed investors include In-Q-Tel, Sequoia Capital, and ARK Invest. Notably, Luckey personally and Anduril hold no equity stakes in Warhound, while Colossal Biosciences does retain a formal ownership share. Lamm added that he and Luckey have been developing the project for over a year, only recently choosing to bring the company out of full stealth mode for public launch.

"Someone told me recently, 'So this is basically the Captain America super-soldier dog program with Iron Man-level tech layered on top of it,'" Lamm told WIRED. The startup has committed to running all its breeding, gene-editing, and canine care programs under the official guidance of the American Humane Society to enforce strict animal welfare standards.