Neo

With pre-orders for its $20,000 NEO robot open, 1X is transparent about its strategy: early adopters will use a human-piloted "Expert Mode" to help train the robot's AI, a "social contract" built on a surprisingly lightweight, tendon-driven body.

Following days of speculation, 1X has officially announced its NEO humanoid robot is available for pre-order as a consumer product, priced at $20,000 or $499/month. The launch confirms the company's strategy to use a "human-in-the-loop" model to train its AI in real-world homes.

On the eve of its highly anticipated October 28 reveal, 1X hosted a pre-launch event at its Palo Alto HQ, offering hands-on teleoperation demos to tech figures like Andrej Karpathy, Carl Pei, and Robert Scoble. Details from the event reinforce speculation that the company is launching a home-based, teleoperated early adopter program.

Robotics firm 1X has released a cryptic teaser video pointing to a significant announcement on October 28, sparking speculation about the next phase of its plan to deploy NEO humanoids into homes.

A visit to 1X's headquarters radically changed investor Chris Camillo's view on the company's tendon-driven robots, which he now sees as a potential frontrunner for in-home deployment. Robotics expert Scott Walter, who accompanied him, was also highly impressed.