Palmer Luckey and Ben Lamm, the billionaire geeks behind military superdogs

Palmer Luckey and Ben Lamm have launched Warhound, a company aiming to develop military and emergency-response dogs by combining genetic engineering with defence technology. The venture reflects a growing overlap between biotechnology and military applications, and seeks to reduce reliance on dogs bred in Europe.

Warhound has reportedly raised $200 million in seed funding and is valued at $1.2 billion. Luckey founded virtual-reality company Oculus, later acquired by Facebook for $2 billion, before starting defence firm Anduril in 2017; Lamm founded Colossal Biosciences in 2021 after establishing and selling five companies.