DOD-Linked AI Startup to Control Hurricanes
Aeolus Labs aims to "stop catastrophic landfalling Category 5 hurricanes within 4 years!"
I received a tip back in March from a very credible weather modification insider that Mason Lee, the co-founder of Aeolus Labs, an artificial intelligence (AI) based startup company, claimed that he had a Department of Defense contract to modify hurricanes! I have spent the past five months tracking down everything I can find out about this company, and I think the evidence will speak for itself.
This article and video above will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that anyone who claims that “nobody’s trying to alter hurricanes” is dead wrong. Despite the long history of hurricane modification, there are those who maintain that nobody would dare mess with a hurricane.
The Tip
Who is Aeolus Labs?
Aeolus Labs was co-founded by Koki Mashita, Mason Lee, and Dr. Daniel Rosenfeld. Deriving the name Aeolus from the Greek ruler of the winds, this startup seeks to use machine learning AI to forecast and model tropical cyclones and chemical modifications to alter hurricanes.
Aeolus Labs, Inc.
Aeolus Labs is on a mission to protect humanity, build American resilience, and stop catastrophic landfalling Category 5 hurricanes within 4 years. Based in San Francisco.
Official Website: https://aeolus.earth/
LinkedIn Company Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aeoluslabs/
X Account: https://x.com/aeolus_labs
California Statement of Designation - Out-of-state Stock Corporation - Dec. 6, 2024
https://www.bizprofile.net/ca/los-angeles/aeolus-labs-inc
How their website looked back in March:
Aeolus - Taming the Might of Hurricanes: https://aeoluslabs.vercel.app/
Aeolus - Vision: https://aeoluslabs.vercel.app/vision.html
Son of Hippotes, Guardian of the Winds
"Then to the Aeolian isle we came, where dwelt Aeolus, son of Hippotes, dear to the immortal gods, in a floating island, and all around it is a wall of unbreakable bronze."
Beneath vaulted heavens where sky melds seamlessly with the boundless sea, rests Aeolia—a realm adrift between earth and celestial whispers. Here dwells Aeolus, son of Hippotes, the Guardian of the Winds, whose very breath weaves the invisible currents that shape our world. Entrusted by Zeus, Aeolus conducts the elemental symphony, each gust a note in the grand orchestration of nature's balance.
In the twilight of ancient lore, Aeolus bestowed upon Odysseus the gift of safe passage, a beacon of hope amidst the storm's fury. Odysseus, the intrepid voyager, mirrors humanity's relentless quest for sanctuary in a new era besieged by climate change. As Aeolus guided the hero through perilous seas, so must we navigate the turbulent currents of our time, seeking harmony with a rapidly changing world.
Mastery and Reverence: Radical Rebalancing
Where system creates system and machine improves machine, where intelligence and intuition intertwine to restore equilibrium with the natural world. Our relationship with nature is reimagined, fostering a symbiotic union that honors the delicate interplay of forces that sustain life.
Like the fortified serenity of Aeolus in his isle, we must strive to harmonize human innovation with environmental integrity. Our path is one of dynamical resilience, where each advancement is a step towards a balanced coexistence. Guided by the wisdom of the winds, we craft a future where progress and preservation converge, ensuring safe passage for generations to come.
With grace and foresight, and in the spirit of Aeolus, we become the modern custodians of the winds—silent guardians orchestrating a harmonious passage through uncharted skies.
How is Aeolus linked to the DOD?
Christopher Kirchhoff, Ph.D is listed as an Advisor to Aeolus.
Christopher Kirchhoff is an expert in emerging technology who founded the Pentagon’s Silicon Valley office and has led teams for the President, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and CEO of Google. He recently worked special projects at Anthropic. Previously, Dr. Kirchhoff helped scale $1 billion in philanthropic programs at Schmidt Futures. He also founded and led the Pentagon's Silicon Valley Office, Defense Innovation Unit X, which piloted flying cars and microsatellites in military missions and created a new acquisition pathway for start-ups now responsible for $70 billion dollars of technology acquisition. During the Obama Administration, he was Director for Strategic Planning at the National Security Council and the senior civilian advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Together with Raj Shah, he is the author of Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley are Transforming the Future of War.
Official Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) website: https://www.diu.mil/
Aeolus Labs - Staff
Koki Mashita - Co-Founder & CEO
Thiel Fellow, May 2025
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kokimashita/
https://x.com/koki_mashita
Mason Lee - Co-Founder & CTO
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mason-lee-ml/
https://x.com/masonle59626031
Daniel Rosenfeld - Co-Founder & Chief Scientist
The Fredy & Nadine Herrmann, Institute of Earth Sciences.
Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
https://en.earth.huji.ac.il/people/daniel-rosenfeld
Toby Bischoff - Head of Research
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bischtob/
https://x.com/bischtob
https://github.com/bischtob
Aidan Witeck - Founding Software Engineer
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aidanwiteck/
Jatan Buch - Head of Cloud Physics
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jatan-buch-943b52354/
David Grauer - Head of Chemical Processes
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-grauer-13bb6622/
Aaron Liimatainen - Senior Process Engineer
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-liimatainen-443510163/
Kenneth Bui - Chief of Staff
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenneth-bui-677980183/
Hunter Keith - Head of Government and International Affairs
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunter-keith-497a57a/
Yuchan (Ryan) Yang - Resident Engineer
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuchan-yang-b16a96225/
Christopher Kirchhoff, Ph.D. - Advisor
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-kirchhoff/
Daniel Rosenfeld, the Department of Homeland Security, and Hurricane Modification
Dr. Rosenfeld attended the DHS Hurricane Modification Workshop in 2008, where he proposed modifying hurricanes by cloud seeding with chemicals, and has a 2007 patent for Hurricane mitigation by combined seeding with condensation and freezing nuclei which mentions using sub-micron ammonium sulfate particles.
I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Rosenfeld at the American Meteorological Society’s 21st Conference on Planned and Inadvertent Weather Modification in 2018.
Weather Warfare: Atmo, Inc. vs. Koki Mashita
Atmo.ai was founded in 2019 and said it is a leading company in bringing AI to meteorology, which is useful in forecasting and "weather modification," according to the complaint. The company said its customers include governments, militaries and corporations around the globe.
Mashita was a consultant for the company in the summer of 2024, according to the suit. Mashita was introduced to Atmo's co-founder Alexander Levy in 2022 when Mashita was a student at the University of California, Berkeley, and the company brought him on as an intern that year, the suit said. In that role, Mashita worked on software engineering and had access to confidential company documents, the suit said, noting that Mashita signed a mutual nondisclosure agreement during that time.Source: AI Weather Startup Claims Rival Used Trade Secrets
July 3, 2025: Atmo, Inc. v. Mashita et al - Additional Reference
For Muh Nerds
Miller, J., Tang, A., Tran, T. L., Prinsley, R., & Howden, M. (2023). The feasibility and governance of cyclone interventions. Climate Risk Management, 41, 100535.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2023.100535
Tran, T. L., Prinsley, R., Rosenfeld, D., Cleugh, H., & Fan, J. (2025). Can we mitigate tropical cyclone formation using aerosols? A review of cyclogenesis and aerosol effects as a theoretical basis. Atmospheric Research, 314, 107779.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2024.107779
Tran, T. L., Fan, J., Rosenfeld, D., Zhang, Y., Cleugh, H., Hogg, A. M., & Prinsley, R. (2025). Investigation of the sensitivity of tropical cyclogenesis to aerosol intervention. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130(8), e2024JD041600.
https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JD041600
National Research Council, Division on Earth, Board on Atmospheric Sciences, Committee on the Status of, & Future Directions in US Weather Modification Research. (2004). Critical issues in weather modification research. National Academies Press.
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10829&page=67
“Although 40 years have passed since the first NAS report on weather modification, this Committee finds itself very much in concurrence with the findings of that assessment… We conclude that the initiation of large-scale operational weather modification programs would be premature.
Soldatenko, S., & Yusupov, R. A. F. A. E. L. (2015). On the possible use of geophysical cybernetics in climate manipulation (geoengineering) and weather modification. WSEAS Transactions on Environment and Development, 11, 116-125.
It is necessary to point out that many attempts and experiments to modify the atmospheric processes and weather phenomena have been made in the previous century. However, both geoengineering and weather modification are considered outside the scope of control theory.
Summary
Is taming, turning, or destroying a hurricane a noble cause? Sure. Can the same technology be weaponized? Likely. Why would the Department of Defenses DIU be invested in an AI startup involving weather prediction and hurricane modification? The answer is obvious:
He who controls the weather controls the world. ~ Lyndon Baines Johnson
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Attack Ideas, Not People. ❤️ you, mean it.
This was my first thought after being washed away by a cat 5+ in 2022 & 2 more hurricanes after that. So much evil.
Hi Jim, thanks for your work. I can't find this co on yahoo! finance or crunch base. But they seem like a DARPA/intel kind of front company that is probably hiding the actual main kind of tech they will use. They may have been in stealth for a few years at least.