The Maker of the $20K Neo Robot Has a Deal for 10,000 of Its Humanoids
Robot maker 1X caused a stir in October when it opened pre-orders for its humanoid robot Neo for home use, especially because of its $20,000 price tag. Now the company is making a splash by striking a deal to deploy 10,000 of its humanoids over the next five years.
Private equity firm EQT says it will facilitate the integration of thousands of 1X Neo humanoids into its portfolio companies to work with humans in areas such as manufacturing, facility operations and healthcare. The company confirmed in an email to CNET that the 10,000 robots will be Neo models using the same AI as the robots it sells to the public.
A press release regarding the EQT deal states that 1X will launch pilots in the United States in 2026, the same time frame the company gave for delivering the first Neo units to customers.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased technical content and lab reviews. Add CNET as your preferred Google source.
1X, based in Palo Alto, California, also worked on industrial robots before introducing Neo. EQT, based in Stockholm, is an investor in 1X.
Pre-orders for Neo require a $200 deposit. For those who prefer not to become owners, a $499 per month rental option is available.
Neo is 5 feet 6 inches tall and can deadlift 154 pounds. 1X has demonstrated the ability to perform household tasks, such as folding laundry and carrying groceries. Notably, however, in a demonstration seen by a Wall Street Journal reporter, Neo was not autonomous: it required a remote human operator using a VR headset and controllers.
1X told CNET that Neo will arrive to customers with basic autonomy and will learn and develop new capabilities with continued use.
Financial terms of the EQT deal were not disclosed. 1X and EQT said the robots would be deployed first to U.S. partner companies, for purchase or rental, and then to those in Europe and Asia.
Watch this: You can now pre-order Neo, the AI humanoid domestic robot
A robotic future?
In a statement, EQT Ventures said the deal would be part of a wave of mass-market adoption of robots and would aim to address issues such as labor shortages.
“It’s not about replacing people, it’s about giving them superpowers,” Ted Persson, senior partner at EQT Ventures, said in a statement. “By making 1X technology available to our portfolio companies, we are helping them combat labor shortages, improve safety and achieve new levels of productivity in the industries that make the world run.” »
1X is one of several companies aiming to mass produce humanoid robots for business, household tasks and even boxing. Amazon already uses robots in its warehousesand advances in AI are expected to help accelerate the global adoption of robotics.
Unitree, Apptronik, Boston Dynamics and Tesla are among the companies working on human-like robots.
Tesla was recently criticized for a robot failure: during a public demonstration in Miami, one of its Optimus robots apparently knocked over bottles it was trying to pick up, then lost its balance and fell.
