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1X Opens Pre-Orders for NEO Humanoid Robot at $20,000, Pivoting from R&D to Product
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After a pre-launch event for tech notables yesterday fueled speculation of an early adopter program, robotics firm 1X has officially revealed its "biggest announcement": the NEO humanoid robot is now a commercial product available for pre-order.
In a statement, CEO Bernt Børnich framed the launch as a pivotal moment for the industry. "Humanoids were long a thing of sci-fi, then they were a thing of research, but today, with the launch of NEO, humanoids become a product," Børnich wrote. "NEO is the first step on a journey towards a more abundant future."
The robot is being offered for a $20,000 one-time purchase or a $499 monthly subscription. The company is taking a $200 fully refundable deposit, with US deliveries slated to begin in 2026.
The Product: A "Humanoid Companion"
A 9-minute launch video accompanying the announcement details what 1X is selling: a "humanoid companion designed to transform your life at home". The presentation outlines two primary functions for NEO:
- Autonomous Chores: The robot's "core" experience is described as "fully autonomous" out of the box. A "chores feature" allows users to schedule tasks, such as tidying the house or watering plants, for NEO to complete on its own.
- AI Companion: NEO also functions as a speech-enabled AI assistant. Unlike phone-based assistants, 1X claims NEO "lives with you in your physical space and has the ability to see, hear and remember things" about its environment to provide more helpful, contextual assistance.
The robot is "engineered from the ground up for safety", featuring a "quiet and lightweight" "tendon-driven body". This matches analysis that its architecture makes it "meaningfully lighter and meaningfully safer" than competitors. The video also claims "human-level dexterity" and a "55-pound carrying capacity".
"Expert Mode": The Bridge to Autonomy
Crucially, the launch confirms the "human-in-the-loop" training strategy that we reported on earlier. While NEO can perform many tasks autonomously, 1X has built a system for tasks it hasn't yet learned.
1X's launch video confirms its 'human-in-the-loop' strategy. For tasks NEO can't do autonomously, 'Expert Mode' lets a human operator 'supervise' and 'provide corrective intervention.' This is how they plan to gather training data.
The video explains: "If there are any chores that your NEO hasn't learned how to do autonomously, you can use expert mode to have an expert from one X supervise the session".
This "expert mode" is the commercial branding for the teleoperation system demoed several times previously. It serves as a bridge to full autonomy, allowing 1X to deploy robots and gather critical real-world training data.
The company is transparent that early adopters will be part of this "journey." The robot's "Redwood AI" model "improves with diverse data and rural world experience", and users will receive updates as NEO learns more complex tasks.
"The journey there is not going to be perfect, and we're not going to pretend it's going to be," the presenter states in the video. The ultimate goal is for NEO to "eventually become fully autonomous". This confirms what has been reported from the pre-launch event and earlier: "The early adopters are actually going to be doing the training".
With pre-orders open, 1X is officially transitioning from a research and development firm to a commercial entity, betting that consumers are willing to pay to be part of that journey.