NEO by 1X: The Humanoid Home Assistant That’s Closer Than You Think

A new era of home robotics is quietly taking shape in a Norwegian warehouse—and it looks a lot like us.

In a recent profile from The New York Times, journalist Cade Metz takes us inside the world of 1X Technologies, a company leading the charge in developing humanoid robots powered by cutting-edge AI. Their star creation? A robot named NEO—and it's not just another science project.

NEO is a sleek, bipedal robot designed to move, see, and act like a human. But unlike traditional industrial machines or rigid, task-specific bots, NEO runs on a generalist AI model—a single neural network capable of learning and performing multiple tasks in real-world environments, from bagging leaves to folding laundry.

“We want robots to be a part of everyday life—not just in factories, but in homes,” says 1X CEO Bernt Øivind Børnich. “That means they need to be able to do more than one thing, and do it safely.”

Why a Humanoid Robot?

It’s not about replacing people. It’s about fitting into a world built by—and for—humans.

Doorways, staircases, dishwashers, coffee tables: our homes are designed with two arms, two legs, and a general sense of dexterity in mind. Instead of re-engineering our living spaces for robots, 1X is teaching robots to adapt to us.

NEO’s humanoid form allows it to navigate your kitchen, pick up a fallen remote, or carry groceries from the door to the counter—all with a level of autonomy that was, until recently, the stuff of sci-fi.

Generalist Intelligence, Real-World Impact

What truly sets NEO apart is its brain—a large-scale AI model trained in a way that resembles how humans learn. Instead of writing specific code for each task, 1X trains NEO using video data, imitation, and trial-and-error, enabling the robot to make decisions based on context, not just commands.

In a recent demo shared on social media, NEO was shown autonomously collecting fallen leaves and placing them into a trash bag. It’s a humble task, but an incredibly complex one for a robot: recognizing objects, grasping them with the right pressure, adjusting to awkward positions—all while moving around without bumping into anything.

And it was all powered by one AI model. No task-switching, no remote operator, no cheat codes.

What This Means for Your Home

We’re still in the early days—but if 1X’s trajectory holds, humanoid home assistants may be on the market much sooner than expected.

Think:

• A robot that helps you tidy the playroom after the kids go to bed.

• A companion that loads the dishwasher or fetches your phone.

• A helper that assists elderly family members with light tasks or reminders.

There are, of course, real questions ahead—about safety, privacy, cost, and reliability—but the vision is becoming clearer by the day: intelligent, adaptable robots that support real families in real homes.

A Future You Can Live With

1X is already backed by major investors, including OpenAI and Tiger Global, and they’ve begun deploying NEOs in limited real-world settings. The company is also hiring rapidly, building out both its robotics and AI teams to accelerate toward commercial deployment.

For now, the idea of a helpful humanoid robot tidying your home still feels futuristic. But as we’ve seen before—especially in tech—what seems like science fiction one year can become science fact the next.

And if NEO’s early demos are anything to go by, your next housebot might just walk on two legs.