Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
The Military Biotech Science

Palmer Luckey Reveals Genetically Modified Military Dog Startup (wired.com) 60

Posted by BeauHD from the genetically-enhanced dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: A new startup launched today with the definitely not terrifying mission of creating genetically enhanced dogs for the United States military, law enforcement, and emergency first responders. Warhound is the brainchild of Anduril's Palmer Luckey and Colossal Biosciences cofounder Ben Lamm. The startup has raised $200 million to "rebuild America's domestic supply of elite working dogs" and reduce dependency on European dog breeders for military canines.

Lamm tells WIRED that Warhound is in the process of gene-editing its first batch of dogs. The startup has already collected blood samples from specific "top-performing" military, police, and first responder dogs in the United States, and its goal is to clone them. Breeds will be "mostly Belgian Malinois, some labs, and some shepherds," he says. The company anticipates the first round of puppies to be born in early 2027. The initial rounds of gene-editing will focus on eliminating common health conditions that impact these breeds, like hip dysplasia. Further down the line, Lamm envisions expanding to "really interesting things," such as incorporating olfactory receptor genes from wolves to "enhance" the military dogs. (Colossal Biosciences is perhaps best known for its work on gene-edited wolves for its so-called Dire Wolf De-Extinction Project.)

Warhound, based in Texas, will also equip its canines with "Anduril's advanced cybernetic Augments, software, and battlefield situational awareness," according to a press release. Asked if this means the dogs will be some kind of cyborgs, Lamm clarifies that the plan right now is to supply them with tools like "advanced body armor" rather than, say, embedding some sort of computer in their dog bodies. "So no dogs with lasers?" WIRED asked Lamm. "I can't comment on what Anduril plans," he says. "Dog safety and performance, and then helping continue helping to improve the human handler and dog bond, and working as a team -- that is what the mission is." [...] The company plans to operate under the guidance of the American Humane Society.

Palmer Luckey Reveals Genetically Modified Military Dog Startup More | Reply

Palmer Luckey Reveals Genetically Modified Military Dog Startup

Comments Filter:

  • Manmade horrors entirely within my comprehension (Score:5, Insightful)

    by T34L ( 10503334 ) on Friday October 23, 2026 @11:47PM (#66391096)
    As much as I dislike the people behind it as well as the marketing of it, outside of completely arbitrary cruelty and negligence that I'd find extremely unsurprising from these circles, taking a couple relatively healthy breeds and trying to further fix hip dysplasia and stuff of the sort is probably gonna make for a healthier, happier dogs than basically any "pure bred" dog breeding program in existence, even if a perfectly "organic" one. There's nothing natural or sacred about dogs as a species, we've been genetically modifying them for millennia, and any effort even vaguely concerned with their actual health should have fairly easy and safe time improving it.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by elakazal ( 79531 )

      I suspect marker-assisted selection would be much more efficient and effective in accomplishing the same things than gene-editing and cloning them.

    • The objective isn't to create happier healthier dogs, it's to create biological weapons from dogs.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by T34L ( 10503334 )
        As appealing that is as a narrative from like, fantasy point of view, in practical terms... how? Why? If you desire biological weapons tailored towards any particular specific quality; ease of development, lethality, affordability, psychological effect, covertness... dogs are universally gonna be *really* low on the list of animal species sorted by how well they fit that purpose (along with all the other vertebrates). And if you just wanted a big scary animal to feed your prisoners to in a gladiator styled

        • War dogs were used in medieval times all over the world.
          In plate armour, or unarmoured, as combat companion of armoured warriors.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by T34L ( 10503334 )

            Okay but that was before we had guns. And tanks. And rockets. And FPV drones. And mechanical robot dogs that don't eat, and don't get scared or traumatized or get disease or randomly disobey.

            Horses used to be some of the highest utility anmials on the planet; I'd argue much more prolific and much more important even in warfare alone than war dogs, or war elephants, or war hawks, or any combat specific animal ever has been. Why aren't we genetically engineering warhorses?

            • Why aren't we genetically engineering warhorses?
              Because we have tanks.

              And combat robot dogs already.

              Horses are cute and clever but difficult to feed in warfare. But they have a bonus: we can eat them if the food runs out.

        • Dogs obey humans relatively easily through training, in some ways more reliable at following commands than an AI chatbot. Dogs are able to read secondary cues from humans. Their facial expressions, body posture, voice stress, etc. so dogs have long been integrated in human groups for hunting and war.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Rei ( 128717 )

        This headline sounds like something you'd hear coming from a news report on a TV in the background near the start of a horror movie.

    • The problem seems to be with perception. Apparently breeding dogs is fine but genetically modifying directly is still questionable.

      Like moving from botanical engineering to genetic engineering is somehow evil.

      Maybe people will feel better if instead of dogs they start modifying and breeding especially large rats.
      (ROUSes - lol)

    • I'm curious how breed behavior will be handled. For example, for the most part, Belgian Malinois have no off switch. I wonder if there is a way to dial them back from redline when not on duty, but still have a working dog.

      I think it s a good idea to breed out the congenital problems. Less cruel overall.

  • They're announcing now because they want to at least get a first round of that sweet, sweet investor (and probably government) cash coming their way ASAP! Who knows if they'll still have a "money is no object" buyer in a couple years?

  • What is it with tech bros (Score:5, Insightful)

    by locater16 ( 2326718 ) on Saturday October 24, 2026 @12:12AM (#66391108)
    and making stuff that sounds like it'd be made by the bad guys in a comic book movie. Like do they watch these things and just take notes?

  • people don't deserve dogs (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Mr. Dollar Ton ( 5495648 ) on Saturday October 24, 2026 @12:53AM (#66391128)

    but we've know that for many millennia.

  • Which sci fi horror are we getting? Man's Best Friend?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    Or Gamma dogs?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

  • ... dogs with lasers?

    Next, Cows with guns [spotify.com]

  • This pleases Khorne. Blood and skulls, and so on and so forth.

  • Palmer Luckey Reveals Genetically Modified Military Dog Startup

    And... The company and/or product will be called "Luckey Dogs". /s

    (A subsidiary of "Greased Palm(ers) Industries.)

  • No one knows how many offspring Musk has. No one knows if has interacted with them all. It seems he has paid surrogates and IVF so he may have not even met some mothers or children.

    Palmer Luckey is a creep just like Musk. It seems at least possible that some of his personal genetic material would make it into his uber-hound. And Kash Patel is good with FBI agents that may have involvement with bestiality.

    I started thinking of this as a horrible joke, but I'm so weirded out now I'm wondering if it could en

    • A new version of "The Fly" (The Dog) is coming this christmas to a theater near you.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by bmajik ( 96670 )

      Why is Palmer Luckey a "creep"?

      Are you a TikTok girl or something?

      Have you actually looked into his relationship habits?

      He is a huge anime and retro video game nut. He married a cosplayer. (He did a little cosplay himself). They've been married since 2019 and have a kid together.

      He won at life, basically.

  • Gene editing can only benefit humankind ... said who?

  • for the dogs. I normally adopt beagles from rescue. It is pretty horrifying some of the research done on beagles because they are pretty non-violent towards the owners even when being poked and prodded for research. Normally they just get euthanized after the experiments. I find it difficult to even be aware of this. https://bfp.org/ [bfp.org]
    • And I should have put up a warning disclaimer on the link. Some will find the images and information in the link above to be disturbing. I do.

  • Wait a moment ... how big is a squad?
    How much do they eat?
    Do we need to hunt negros to get food for the dogs?

    Ah, they can do that themselves ... I forgot about that.

    Reminds me about Jurassic park, the last words of the great hunter, when he got stalked by two Raptors: "clever!"

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by BranMan ( 29917 )

      I would venture to say that a squad would be 9 "soldiers" - 4 x 1 dog + 1 handler / section lead. 4 sections plus 1 squad leader and there you are. 2 squads = 10 men and 8 dogs.

      3 MREs per day per human, plus 2 per day (suitably modified to support canine nutrition) per dog, minus any 'foraging', should feed them well enough. War dogs often carry packs so they can help carry supplies - though I'd like to see some form of quick release so the dog can shed its pack quickly in need.

      • Gosh, I hoped it was dogs only, and I could use my whistle to whistle them around.

        You make me feel disappointed, actually sad :/

  • Goddamn apocalypse creators. We were warned for many decades.

  • Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler, Red Heeler, Heeler)

    'nuff said

  • My parents always had Belgian Malinois. Malines is a few dozen kilometers from their home. Farmers were fond of this breed and as my grandfather had a farm, our family fell in love with the breed.
    These dogs really suffers from worn out hips pretty fast. It is sad to watch. You see healthy dogs crawl in pain through their last years. If they can get that out? It is all worth it.
  • I have created things that will change the world for the better. For instance, here is a monkey with four asses.

Slashdot Top Deals

God doesn't play dice. -- Albert Einstein

Close