K-Scale Labs

K-Scale Labs

K-Scale Labs is the open-source humanoid robotics company building K-Bot — a full-size humanoid robot with open hardware designs and reference software — plus sub-$1K developer kits aimed at the long tail of robotics researchers, students, and indie hardware engineers. K-Scale Labs is a Y Combinator alum and has positioned itself as the open-source counterweight to closed-source humanoid players like Figure, 1X, Tesla Optimus, and Apptronik.

Production credibility: Y Combinator S24 alum; founded 2024 by Ben Bolte (ex-Tesla, ex-Meta Reality Labs robotics). Released K-Bot full-size humanoid hardware designs under permissive license. Sub-$1K developer kits aimed at students, researchers, and indie hackers. Growing developer community around open hardware and shared reinforcement learning training pipelines.

Key Features

• K-Bot — full-size humanoid robot with open-source hardware designs
• Sub-$1K humanoid developer kits aimed at students and indie engineers
• Open-source reference software stack for locomotion and manipulation
• Founded 2024 by Ben Bolte (ex-Tesla robotics, ex-Meta Reality Labs)
• Y Combinator S24 alum
• Growing developer community around shared reinforcement learning training pipelines
• Positioned as open-source counterweight to closed-source humanoid players

Ideal Use Case

Robotics researchers, university labs, students, and indie hardware engineers who want to work on humanoid robotics without the $20K-$40K commercial price tag of Figure 02 or 1X NEO. Also serves teams building task-specific humanoids on top of K-Scale's reference designs.

How K-Scale Labs differentiates

Figure, 1X, Apptronik, and Tesla Optimus are closed-source humanoid platforms targeting consumer and enterprise customers at $20K-$40K+ price points. K-Scale Labs takes the opposite approach — open hardware designs, open software stack, and sub-$1K developer kits — explicitly serving the long tail of robotics researchers and students that closed platforms ignore. The trade-off is that K-Scale's product is less polished than Figure or 1X for end-consumer use. For the academic and indie robotics community, open hardware is the binding constraint and K-Scale's positioning is the differentiator.

FAQ

Q: What is K-Scale Labs? A: K-Scale Labs is an open-source humanoid robotics company building K-Bot (a full-size humanoid robot) and sub-$1K developer kits. Y Combinator S24 alum.

Q: Who founded K-Scale Labs? A: Ben Bolte (ex-Tesla robotics, ex-Meta Reality Labs) founded K-Scale Labs in 2024.

Q: K-Scale Labs vs Figure vs 1X vs Apptronik? A: Figure, 1X, and Apptronik are closed-source humanoid platforms at $20K-$40K+ targeting enterprise and consumers. K-Scale Labs is open-source hardware and software targeting researchers, students, and indie engineers with sub-$1K developer kits.

Q: Is K-Scale Labs hardware open source? A: Yes — K-Scale Labs releases K-Bot hardware designs under a permissive license. The software stack is also open-source.

Q: Where can I buy K-Scale Labs hardware? A: Developer kits and K-Bot are available through K-Scale Labs directly. Pricing tier-friendly to academic budgets compared to commercial humanoid platforms.

tl;dr

K-Scale Labs is the open-source humanoid robotics company — K-Bot full-size humanoid plus sub-$1K developer kits. Y Combinator S24 alum; founded by ex-Tesla, ex-Meta Reality Labs roboticist Ben Bolte. The open-source counterweight to Figure, 1X, Apptronik, and Tesla Optimus.

Related

Looking for more options? Browse the AI/ML Models directory or read our best AI models listicle. K-Scale Labs is also tracked on Crunchbase.