Colossal Biosciences’ Ben Lamm and Andruil’s Palmer Luckey are genetically engineer war dogs for the U.S. military, law enforcement, and other emergency response teams. They announced its emergence from stealth as Warhound, armed with $200 million in funding from investors including In-Q-Tel, Sequoia, and 8VC. The round values the company at $1.2 billion. Palmer Luckey thinks they can make 600 pound Wolves that wear 150 pounds of armor.
Warhound will have dogs could be enhanced for health, longevity, and “for things like speed and agility or enhance olfactory sensors for bomb sniffing and whatnot,” he said. His team looked at the top-performing working dog breeds — the Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd — taking the cell lines from them and putting them in a biobank. From there, they will edit the genes, adding the ones that will make the dogs perform better while taking out the ones that won’t, to create “a new type of dog.”
As of mid-October 2026, the Colossal Biosciences “dire wolves” (Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi) are essentially full-grown or very close to it.They are about 134 pounds and 7 feet long.
Current sizes (from their second-birthday/year-2 checkups)
Romulus (male, born Oct 1, 2024): 134 pounds (~61 kg), nearly 7 feet from nose to tail.
Remus (male, born Oct 1, 2024): 132 pounds (~60 kg), also nearly 7 feet from nose to tail.
Khaleesi (female, born Jan 30, 2025): 102 pounds (~46 kg). She is still a bit younger and is expected to stay roughly 20% smaller than her brothers (normal sexual dimorphism).
Anduril Founder @PalmerLuckey spoke about this in 2023:
“You could give every canine unit the characteristics of the strongest Arctic Wolf that ever walked the earth.”
“How about Dire Wolves? 600-pound canines units carrying 150 pounds of armor.” https://t.co/KGqyzBtJQO
— Jawwwn (@jawwwn_) October 22, 2026
The dire wolf pups just had their biggest check-up yet. 🐺 CT scans, heart scans, X-rays, bloodwork, even whole-genome sequencing.
The verdict? Happy and healthy from snoot to tail.
But how big are they? Scroll for the official weigh-in. ⬇️
(1/10) https://t.co/0Pbdro0wHr
— Colossal Biosciences® (@colossal) October 19, 2026
Andruil, meanwhile, will provide software and hardware enhancement for items such as dog protection vests and eye goggles to assist the dogs and their handlers with matters like situational awareness and coordination.
He said to imagine, for example, bulletproof vests that have data sensors
The dogs will perform tasks that are dangerous for humans or difficult for machines, like bomb detection, searches, and other specialized operations. In its launch announcement, the company said that more than 80% of the working dogs used by the U.S. military come from Europe and less than half of them are fit for service.
Anduril Founder @PalmerLuckey spoke about this in 2023:
“You could give every canine unit the characteristics of the strongest Arctic Wolf that ever walked the earth.”
“How about Dire Wolves? 600-pound canines units carrying 150 pounds of armor.” https://t.co/KGqyzBtJQO
— Jawwwn (@jawwwn_) October 22, 2026
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
