OpenAI-Backed Valthos Raises $30 Million to Combat AI-Enabled Biological Threats

Valthos said Friday (Oct. 24) that it has raised $30 million to build “next-generation biodefense” to combat the threat of biological threats enabled by artificial intelligence.

This kind of defense is needed because AI has expanded access to biotechnologies that can create diseases as well as eliminate them, the company said in a Friday blog post.

“Today, it’s faster to weaponize biology than to advance new cures,” Valthos said in its post. “Leaders in AI have identified this as one of the largest threats of our time.”

Valthos is building tools that government and life sciences experts can use to identify biological threats and design medical countermeasures to respond to them, according to the company’s website.

“We build AI systems to rapidly characterize biological sequences and update medicines in real time,” the company said in the post. “This strengthens biodefense today and lays the groundwork for the adaptive, precision therapeutics of tomorrow.”

Valthos Co-founder and CEO Kathleen McMahon wrote in a Friday post on X: “We have an opportunity to use emerging AI methods to strengthen biodefense—earlier detection of threats, faster, more precise medicine. It’s a race to get these systems in place to deter the worst case and we’re running out of time. This is the problem I want to solve.”

McMahon added in another Friday post that Valthos will bring expertise in operational software and machine language to experts who are on the frontline of biodefense.

Valthos said in its blog post that its investors include the OpenAI Startup Fund, Lux Capital and Founders Fund.

Lux Capital Partner Grace Isford wrote in a Friday post on X: “Thrilled to unveil [Lux Capital] incubation [Valthos] — they’re building next-generation biodefense powered by AI.”

Isford added in the post that McMahon built and led Palantir’s life sciences business.

PYMNTS reported in October 2024 that AI is transforming pharmaceutical research, compressing timelines and potentially slashing drug prices.

A 2024 report sponsored by the State Department revealed national security threats due to fast-developing artificial intelligence and highlighted the urgent need for federal action to prevent a crisis, PYMNTS reported at the time.

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