Made in America and Priced at $7,999: StarBot Launches Spark Humanoid Robot

Santa Barbara, California, USA, Nov. 04, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StarBot Robotics launched Spark, a 90-centimeter humanoid robot featuring 22 degrees of freedom and an open-development platform designed to bring accessible robotics to families, schools, and developers worldwide.

How much does it cost to own a humanoid robot you can develop yourself?

For American robotics company StarBot, the answer is $7,999.

The company’s newly launched Spark stands approximately 90 centimeters tall and has 22 degrees of freedom. Available in multiple colors, it is intended for child companionship, youth robotics education and developers who want to work with a physical robot.

According to StarBot, Spark is 100% manufactured in the United States and is North America’s first U.S.-made developer humanoid robot in its size and price category.

StarBot founder and CEO Yong Wang has a goal: to build robots that ordinary people can afford.

The company emerged from the University of California, Santa Barbara’s incubation ecosystem and is bringing robots into a range of everyday settings. Spark is aimed at homes, classrooms and developers. Before Spark, StarBot’s service robot Nova had already entered restaurant operations.

A First Hands-On Experience with Robotics

For many young people, robots first appear in movies, games and on screens. Spark offers an opportunity to encounter one up close.

Children can begin by observing the robot’s appearance and movements. As their interest grows, young people can explore programming and robotics development with guidance from parents or teachers. For experienced developers, Spark’s support for further development offers room to explore their own ideas.

StarBot chose a height of approximately 90 centimeters and multiple color options with home, educational and development settings in mind.

Manufacturing Spark in the United States while setting its price at $7,999 was a deliberate part of the company’s product strategy. A humanoid robot remains a significant purchase. StarBot’s aim is to bring the price down so that more people have the opportunity to own and use one.

Before Spark, Nova Entered the Restaurant

StarBot’s approach to bringing robots into daily life has been shaped by its work in the service industry.

The company launched its service robot Nova in early 2026. According to StarBot, Nova has served more than 20,000 people in commercial settings.

In the restaurant application described by the company, Nova uses low-latency voice interaction to communicate with guests and autonomously carries out a service sequence that includes greeting, taking orders, serving food and handling checkout. When it sees a birthday cake on a table, it can also take the initiative to sing “Happy Birthday” to the guests.

At the end of a meal, guests can review an itemized bill on a 7-inch flexible LED screen and pay by credit card at the payment area on the robot’s head.

Nova’s hardware is priced at $4,999, with a $499 monthly subscription. Spark is a separate product, priced at $7,999.

For restaurants facing hiring and scheduling difficulties, the practical questions are whether a robot can fit into daily operations and whether the investment makes sense. Nova has given StarBot experience working on those questions in commercial settings.

The pressure extends beyond individual restaurants. In a 2024 report, labor-market analytics company Lightcast projected that U.S. population growth would outpace labor-force growth by approximately eight to one by 2032 and that the country could face a shortfall of approximately six million workers. The report identified hospitality and service industries among the sectors likely to be heavily affected. StarBot sees service robots such as Nova as one option for operators responding to workforce pressure.

The company is also watching for opportunities associated with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games. An analysis published by LA28 projects that the Games will draw approximately two million visitors to Greater Los Angeles. More visitors will bring more work for restaurants, hotels and other hospitality businesses. StarBot hopes to apply the experience gained with Nova in restaurants to other settings with service needs.

Spark brings the company’s products to another group of users: families who want to introduce their children to technology, schools teaching robotics and developers ready to test their ideas on a physical platform.

A U.S.-manufactured humanoid robot priced at $7,999 is now on sale. What Spark becomes in homes and classrooms will depend in part on how its users choose to work with it, develop it and build upon it.

Yong Wang, yongwang@starbotusa.com