Billionaire Palmer Luckey, who founded Costa Mesa-based defense technology firm Anduril, has teamed up with another billionaire from Texas to bioengineer military dogs.
Luckey and Ben Lamm of Colossal Biosciences on Friday launched a $200 million startup backed by a Who’s Who list of venture capitalists, including Sequoia Capital, ARK Invest, Franklin Templeton, 8VC, among others.
The nascent Warhound said Friday that it plans to “rebuild America’s domestic supply of elite working dogs for U.S. military forces, law enforcement and emergency first response teams.”
David Spirk, a former senior counselor with defense tech firm Palantir Technologies, was appointed to lead the startup as chief executive officer.
It’s unclear from the announcement whether Warhound will work with Belgian Malinois, a breed used extensively by the U.S. military and police officers, or some other type of dog. The company sees a shortage of dogs to work with, especially since only half of the dogs trained qualify for service.
A spokeswoman for Warhound, which will be based in Texas, told the Southern California News Group that about 85% of the dogs the military buys come from European breeders, and that the U.S. is competing against China and Russia for what’s available. She said about 5,600 — or about 10% of the 55,000 trained dogs that assist humans in the U.S. today — support national security missions.
She cited a statement provided by the American Kennel Club that said there is a shortage of even “mediocre quality foreign dogs.”
“The first dogs are now in development,” she said.
Those dogs have already been “biobanked” and are being edited now, the company said, with the goal of producing healthier animals. A biobank is a facility that collects and manages biological samples — such as blood, saliva, tissue and DNA — along with associated health and lifestyle data for medical research.
The first puppies will be born in the first quarter of 2027, she said. “Combined with cloning, this approach is designed to create a more predictable domestic supply on a consistent schedule, reducing reliance on European sourcing.”
The American Humane Society said it will certify the company’s training programs and support the reunification of retired military working dogs with their former handlers and adoption protocols.
“Breakthroughs in science and genetics have the potential to improve the welfare and safety of animals serving in the U.S. military and law enforcement agencies,” the American Humane Society said in a statement provided to SCNG.
“We look forward to working with them to help ensure the animals in their care are treated humanely,” the organization said.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals had little good to say about Warhound.
“It’s a pity that some people with enormous amounts of money have very little common sense,” said Colleen O’Brien, senior vice president with PETA.
“Genetically engineering dogs for dangerous military work is a stunningly old-fashioned idea at a time when other agencies are phasing out the use of dogs in favor of robotics, AI, and other state-of-the-art technology that can be used without putting dogs in harm’s way,” O’Brien said.
An Anduril spokesperson on Friday said that 34-year-old Palmer isn’t an investor in Warhound. Instead, Anduril will be partnering with the startup “to support hardware for the dogs later down the road.”
Lamm, 44, was unavailable for comment.
The startup is bringing together Colossal’s work in genetics, cloning and animal biology with Anduril’s advanced defense technology to “fundamentally change how America produces, trains, and protects its military working dogs.”
Colossal Biosciences said it would help produce “healthier dogs with characteristics suited to demanding missions, while Anduril’s technology will give dogs and their handlers greater awareness and protection in the field.”
Warhound plans to tap Anduril’s Eagle Eye technology, which is headgear integrated into an operator’s helmet, that will allow a handler to see what the dog sees.
Lamm started Colossal Biosciences along with Harvard geneticist George Church with the goal of reviving extinct animals — like the “wooly mammoth” — or endangered species, Forbes magazine reported last year.
Founded in 2017, Anduril develops aerial drones, surveillance networks and autonomous underwater systems using artificial intelligence technology.
Anduril has been expanding its manufacturing capacity, announcing plans in January for a $1 billion production facility in Long Beach while building a 5 million-square-foot industrial park in Ohio for combat aircraft production.
The Costa Mesa office campus where Anduril leases its headquarters, was recently put up for sale in a deal that could be worth about $400 million, potentially making it the region’s largest transaction this year.