Palmer Luckey's dog company lands $200M to boost smell and sight for soldiers
Palmer Luckey's new firm will partner with Colossal Biosciences to clone canines with enhanced senses for combat support.
By Priya Marino ·
A new startup founded by Palmer Luckey has raised $200 million to genetically modify dogs for military service. The company, named Warhound, states that the enhanced animals will be capable of detecting explosives and assisting in troop protection. Reports published on October 23, 2026, confirm that Sequoia is among the investors funding the venture.
Warhound plans to partner with Colossal Biosciences for the technical execution of the project. Colossal Biosciences will handle the cloning and gene-editing processes required to create the new line of canines. This approach aims to biologically upgrade standard working dogs to meet specific operational demands in combat zones.
The launch of Warhound coincides with other developments in biotechnology reported on the same day. Researchers announced that a new gene-editing tool known as prime editing has reached its first human patient. The technique rewrites DNA in liver cells. Additionally, Moderna and Merck reported that their mRNA cancer vaccine reduced death rates by 42% in patients with melanoma.
The vaccine trial also showed a lower risk of cancer recurrence. These health announcements arrive alongside a cybersecurity alert regarding flaws in PHP. Experts noted that the vulnerabilities are harder to exploit than initially feared. However, the bugs did knock websites offline around the world before patches were applied.
Software developer Ian Landsman praised the work of volunteer Ondřej Surý, who helped patch the PHP flaws. Landsman described Surý as an unsung hero of the internet. "If anything happens to this guy, that is just it. Everyone is screwed," Landsman wrote on X.
In related tech news, Donald Trump said Elon Musk restored Ukraine's access to Starlink. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky countered that internet speeds remained capped. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump asked Musk to lift those speed limits.
Google is also changing its energy strategy. The company will pay customers to free up power for its data centers through a virtual power plant. This program rewards people for adjusting their energy use. Meanwhile, a separate report alleged that Google illegally felled 250,000 trees in Finland for a data center project.
