Regularized K-Means Clustering

Regularized k-means extends standard k-means by adding a penalty term — most commonly an L1 (lasso-type) or L2 constraint — to the objective function. This discourages degenerate cluster solutions and, in the sparse variant introduced by Witten and Tibshirani (2010), simultaneously selects the features that drive cluster separation, making it especially valuable in high-dimensional settings where many features are irrelevant.