The humanoid company that decided robots shouldn’t hurt people.
1X Technologies is a Norwegian robotics company with a manufacturing facility in Hayward, California. Backed by OpenAI, Tiger Global, and SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Their flagship product is NEO — a domestic humanoid designed to work safely alongside humans in homes.
What They Build
| Robot | Status | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|
| 1X NEO | Limited beta | Soft exterior, ~30kg, domestic focus |
One robot. But it’s the only humanoid explicitly designed for safe human interaction from the ground up.
Design Philosophy
1X takes a fundamentally different approach from every competitor:
- Soft exterior: Unlike hard-metal industrial humanoids, NEO has a compliant, soft-touch surface for safe accidental contact
- Lightweight: At ~30 kg, it’s roughly half the weight of Atlas or Figure 02, reducing injury risk if it falls or collides
- Walking gait: Designed for natural human-like movement rather than maximum efficiency or speed
- Home-trained AI: Models trained on household tasks rather than industrial workflows
Safety and approachability take priority over raw capability. That’s the 1X bet.
Production Scale
1X opened a 58,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Hayward, California. The facility represents significant capital commitment, suggesting the company is moving beyond prototype production toward consumer-ready manufacturing.
The factory is designed to eventually produce thousands of units per year, though current output is likely in the low hundreds as processes are refined.
Autonomy: Hybrid
NEO operates at a Hybrid autonomy level. 1X developed what it calls “embodied learning” — the robot learns by observing and imitating human behavior in domestic environments. This is distinct from the programmed-motion approach used by many competitors.
Claimed capabilities:
- Tidying and organizing
- Fetching objects
- Assisting with food preparation
- Monitoring and alerting for safety issues
Human oversight is maintained through a mobile app, with the ability to intervene or redirect tasks.
Combat Relevance
NEO is not designed for combat and 1X has shown no interest in the combat-robotics market. But the design choices are interesting from a combat perspective:
- Safety-focused design: The soft exterior and lightweight frame would be destroyed in combat, but the safety engineering represents a different approach to humanoid construction
- Embodied learning: NEO’s ability to learn from observation could theoretically be applied to combat strategy learning
- Domestic dexterity: Hand and manipulation capabilities developed for household tasks could translate to tool handling
The most relevant observation: 1X, Figure AI, and Boston Dynamics are all building humanoids for practical applications. The combat leagues (UFB, URKL) are using different, less advanced hardware. The gap between the best humanoid technology and the best combat humanoid is significant.
What They Don’t Do
- No combat interest whatsoever
- No industrial applications
- Not available for general purchase yet
- Limited to domestic tasks in current software
Investors
- OpenAI (strategic partner — provides both funding and AI model access)
- Tiger Global
- SoftBank Vision Fund 2
OpenAI’s involvement is particularly notable. The company provides both funding and AI model access, potentially giving 1X an edge in natural language understanding and task planning.
Timeline
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 1X Technologies founded in Norway |
| 2023 | NEO prototype unveiled |
| 2024 | OpenAI partnership announced |
| 2025 | Hayward, CA factory opened |
| 2026 | Limited beta deployments |
Related
- 1X NEO — Full robot profile and specs
- Figure 02 — Industrial-focused competitor
- Boston Dynamics Atlas — Most dynamic competitor
- Robot Database Hub — Compare all platforms
Last updated: May 2026 | Status: Limited beta, scaling production | Autonomy focus: Hybrid domestic