OpenAI backs $30M investment in biosecurity startup Valthos to stop AI-engineered biological attacks

The same technology that can write poetry, design proteins, or diagnose disease is now being used to prevent something far darker — AI-assisted biological attacks. To get ahead of that threat, OpenAI has teamed up with Founders Fund and Lux Capital to invest $30 million in Valthos, a New York-based biosecurity startup developing software that can detect and counter engineered biological threats in real time.

Bloomberg confirmed the funding, reporting, “On Friday, the nine-person startup is officially emerging from stealth, with $30 million in funding from OpenAI, Founders Fund and Lux Capital.” The announcement brings Valthos out of stealth mode and places it squarely in the spotlight of one of the most urgent frontiers in technology: defending humanity from AI-driven bioterrorism.

Valthos’s small but formidable nine-person team is building tools that use artificial intelligence to scan biological data from government and commercial databases, spotting early signs of danger long before an outbreak spreads. The startup’s goal is ambitious — to build a system that can identify biological threats and generate countermeasures on the fly. In short, they want to outsmart biological evolution using what they call “applied biological intelligence.”

Valthos Emerges From Stealth With $30M in Funding from OpenAI and Founders Fund to Prevent AI-Fueled Pandemics

The timing couldn’t be more tense. A recent report from the Center for AI Safety painted a chilling picture: a terrorist with basic lab access could, with AI’s help, create a hybrid pathogen — as contagious as measles, as deadly as smallpox, and as evasive as HIV. That possibility has rattled experts across public health, defense, and AI research.

Kathleen McMahon, co-founder and CEO of Valthos, says the company’s mission is to stay ahead of those risks. “The only way to deter an attack is to know when it’s happening, update countermeasures, and deploy them fast,” she said. McMahon co-founded Valthos with Tess van Stekelenburg, bringing together veterans from Palantir, DeepMind, the Broad Institute, and the Arc Institute — a team that blends experience in AI, data systems, and biotechnology. Together, they’re building what they describe as a “biosecurity shield” for the AI age.

OpenAI’s participation adds an intriguing layer. The company behind ChatGPT has faced growing pressure over the dual-use nature of its technology — tools that can both help and harm, depending on who’s behind the keyboard. By backing Valthos, OpenAI is effectively investing in guardrails for its own creation. The move aligns with recent calls from researchers and policymakers for multi-layered defenses: tighter oversight of DNA synthesis, stronger controls on biological data in AI models, and better coordination between tech firms and health agencies.

Founders Fund and Lux Capital, both known for early bets on frontier science and technology, are backing the effort too — a signal that investors see biosecurity as a field that’s about to scale. For them, Valthos represents more than a niche defense play; it’s a hedge against one of AI’s most existential risks.

Valthos is hiring aggressively as it expands its partnerships with governments and research organizations worldwide. With new capital in hand, the company plans to accelerate development of its early-warning and response systems — technology that could help prevent the next pandemic before it starts.

In an era where a line of code can shape the fate of biology, Valthos is betting that AI’s best defense against itself lies in turning intelligence into vigilance.