Clone Robotics is creeping everyone out again, this time with its full-bodied synthetic human.
The startup, which operates out of the United States and Poland, describes the android called the Protoclone V1 as faceless and anatomically accurate. It boasts more than 200 degrees of freedom, 1,000 Myofibers, and 500 sensors.
Clone co-founder Dhanush Radhakrishna posted on the X social media platform that the introduction of Protoclone is “ground zero for the age of androids.”
In a 40-second video shared by Clone, the Protoclone is suspended making dynamic movements in a workshop setting. A black, reflective mask covers its face. The clip, which Radhakrishna said is from mid-January 2025, had millions of views on social media within hours.
Dar Sleeper, the head of growth for OpenAI-backed startup 1X Technologies, said the design couldn’t get any cooler or creepier. Others said it was nightmare material.
The prototype is powered by pneumatics but the company plans to switch to hydraulics after further development. The design includes synthetic organ systems for skeletal, muscular, vascular, and nervous functions.
Clone calls the robot the world’s first bipedal, musculoskeletal android, which is open for debate. For example, Kengoro, developed by the University of Tokyo’s JSK Lab in 2017, is widely recognized as one of the earlier musculoskeletal humanoids.
The design mimics human anatomy and is notable for its unique cooling system that simulates the way humans sweat with real water. However, Kengoro is intended as a research platform while Clone Robotics is racing to commercialize its androids for home use.
Clone says it’s building power-dense androids with anthropomorphic traits to solve everyday challenges.
Clone’s use of the word android is notable. While all androids are technically humanoid robots, not all humanoid robots are androids.
Humanoid robots can be very simple and mechanical, with aesthetics that often differ dramatically from real people. Simply put, a humanoid robot has a human form factor but still looks like a machine.
Androids, on the other hand, aim to look as human as possible. They have skin, eyes, hair, and are engineered to mimic genuine facial expressions.
Most of the humanoids making waves today from the likes of Tesla, Figure AI, and Unitree Robotics do not meet the technical definition of android. Exceptions include Sophia by Hanson Robotics, Ameca by Engineered Arts, hyper-realistic creations by China-based EX-ROBOT, UBTECH’s new service robot Una, and humanoids from Las Vegas-based Realbotix Corp. equipped with so-called relationship-based artificial intelligence.
Clone, however, differentiates itself by straight up saying it’s working toward synthetic humans. When the startup unveiled its first Torso prototype in October 2024, the design quickly drew comparisons to the host drones in the HBO show Westworld.
Clone aims to create synthetic humans capable of long-term independent operation in complex settings. Radhakrishna and Polish engineer Lukasz Kozlik co-founded Clone Robotics in 2021, but Kozlik’s work developing a lifelike robotic arm gained virality a decade ago. He posted the V1 prototype on YouTube in 2019, describing it as a copy of a real arm he saw in an anatomy lab.
In a recent interview with popular Polish technology channel This Is IT , Koźlik said Clone’s goal is to create robots that are indistinguishable from living people by mimicking human anatomy from the deepest tissues of the skin.
Clone plans to release 279 of its Alpha androids in 2025. The price is to be determined, but Clone has likened it to a limited-edition supercar.