The company that brought back the “dire wolf” has a new project, and this time the animals are a lot more familiar.
Colossal Biosciences co-founder Ben Lamm and tech entrepreneur Palmer Luckey announced on Thursday, Oct. 22, that they have launched Warhound, a new company that will use Colossal’s genetics and cloning technology to produce dogs from what it calls “America’s top-performing” working dogs. The Texas-based company said it has raised $200 million in seed funding.
Colossal is best known for its de-extinction work, including the “dire wolves” born in October 2024. Warhound takes that same science and points it at a practical problem: finding enough dogs that can actually do the job.
Warhound plans to supply dogs to the military, law enforcement and emergency response teams. According to the company, more than 80% of U.S. military working dogs come from Europe, and fewer than half of the dogs bought make it through a training process that takes about three years. That means about 200 dogs have to be found and trained to get 100 that are fit for service.
The idea behind cloning is to start with dogs that have already proven themselves in the field.
“Every day, we ask dogs to put their lives on the line to protect ours,” Lamm said in the announcement. “They detect explosives, protect our troops, and run toward dangers that most people are trained to run away from.”
The dogs will also be outfitted with gear from Anduril, the defense company Luckey founded, including eye and ear protection and its Eagle Eye system.
Luckey and Lamm conceived the company years ago after a conversation at Peter Diamandis’ Moonshots Summit, the company said. The company will be led by CEO David Spirk, a Marine Corps veteran and former senior counselor at Palantir Technologies. Investors include In-Q-Tel, Sequoia Capital, ARK Invest and Franklin Templeton.
The company also addressed what happens to the dogs once their working years are over. American Humane will certify Warhound’s training programs and help reunite retired dogs with their former handlers and support adoptions, according to the company.
“We owe these dogs a commitment to their well-being that matches their service to us,” said Dr. Robin Ganzert, president and CEO of American Humane.
The announcement did not say when Warhound’s first cloned dogs will be ready, how much they will cost or whether the company has a contract with the U.S. military.
