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The American-Norwegian robotics and AI company, 1X Technologies, has introduced its most ambitious product yet – a humanoid home assistant robot named NEO.
With its latest tech, the company aims to shift humanoids from industrial or research prototypes into the home space.
Founded originally under the name Halodi Robotics by CEO Bernt Børnich and re-branded in 2022, 1X Technologies’ mission is to “create a truly abundant society through general-purpose robots capable of performing any kind of work autonomously.”
NEO is a home assistant robot that weighs 66 pounds (roughly 30 kg) and is capable of lifting over 150 pounds (about 68 kg), and it can carry up to 55 pounds (about 25 kg), making it ideal for any home setting. The robot comes in an ambient design with neutral tones and a soft knit suit and shoes, which are customisable. It is offered in Tan, Gray, and Dark Brown shades, and the company describes it as an ‘approachable and comfortable to be around’ robot.
The company claims that NEO is capable of quiet operation as it generates only 22 dB of noise, which is quieter than a modern refrigerator. When it comes to body architecture and dexterity, NEO comes with 22-degree-of-freedom hands and has a soft polymer body built with 3D lattice structures. It uses 1X’s patented Tendon Drive high torque-density actuator system for gentle motion around humans.
It comes with built-in WiFi, Bluetooth, and 5G. NEO has a three-stage speaker setup in the chest and pelvis area, and it doubles as a home entertainment device. When it comes to intelligence and autonomy, NEO is backed by a built-in large language model (LLM) for conversational interaction. The company claims that its audio intelligence knows when it is being addressed, and visual intelligence gives it contextual awareness. With this, the humanoid can recognise ingredients on a kitchen counter and suggest dishes. Besides, it also has memory functionality that allows it to recall past context and personalise assistance over time.
Users can also automate chores with NEO. The robot supports chore scheduling and real-time task execution with verbal or button commands. The company said that owners can also schedule a 1X Expert to train the robot on new or custom tasks.
NEO is currently open for pre-orders, with consumer deliveries beginning in 2026 in the US. The company has plans to expand to other markets in 2027. When it comes to pricing, the robot is priced at $20,000 (about Rs 17.6 lakh) for early access units with priority delivery in 2026. The company also offers a $499 monthly subscription model.
NEO signals a shift from labs to living rooms. While the home environment may pose more challenges, especially concerning human safety, the payoffs may be huge, such as time freed, mundane tasks being automated, and more. Even though the specs of NEO are compelling, reportedly its autonomy is still limited, and in cases it is being tele-operated by human staff. This essentially means that initial units are likely to act more like remote-controlled helpers than autonomous assistants.
It is also too early for mass adoption, with potential hurdles such as high price, safety, reliability, power management, learning robustness, and regulatory acceptance. Regardless, experts also feel that the humanoid and service robotics industry could top hundreds of billions of dollars in the next decade.
