The last few years have dramatically changed our perception of what computers are capable of with the advent of AI, but things are about to get stranger still.
Norway and US-based startup 1X has shown off its latest Neo robot, which it says will be available for sale starting next year. Neo stands 5.5 ft tall, and weighs 30 kg. 1X says that the Neo robot is an “intelligent, everyday assistant” and can be used in the home to help out with daily chores. 1X’s promotional video showed Neo handing a bag to human being, before stopping to take a picture with them.
Unlike other robots that can often appear metallic and clunky, 1X says that Neo has an “muscle-like anatomy” which makes it “strong and gentle” like humans. Neo also appears to be wearing a white and grey bodysuit, and its movements appear uncannily human-like. 1X says that Neo can walk, jog, climb stairs, and navigate spaces naturally. Neo also learns as it is working, so it gets more efficient with time. Neo can walk at 4 km/hr, and has a top running speed of 12km/hr. It can carry loads of up to 20 kg, and its battery lasts 2-4 hours.
It isn’t as though 1X sprung up one day and decided to build a humanoid robot. The company was founded in 2014 in Norway by Bernt Øyvind Børnich, who had decided to work on robotics when he was a child. “When I was 11, I saw an excavator working outside my house,” he says. At that point, Børnich decided to work in the space — he studied robotics and nanoelectronics at the University of Oslo, and founded 1X in 2014. In 2019, the company set up an office in San Francisco, and in 2020, received a contract to deploy 200 of its humanoid robots to guard buildings in the US. In 2022, 1X raised funds from OpenAI, and partnered with them to combine robotics and learning. A year later, 1X unveiled a robot named Eve, and now has unveiled its latest robot, Neo.
While there have been several robots around going back to Honda’s Asimo robot which was unveiled in 2000, what sets Neo apart is that 1X says it could soon enter people’s homes — 1X plans to deploy limited number of Neo Beta units in select homes in 2024 for testing and feedback, with wider consumer availability likely in 2025. “The price will be a lot lower than what most people imagine,” 1X’s CEO says, adding that they were able to manufacture Neo for the cost of a “relatively affordable” car.
More interestingly, the last two years have seen rapid strides in AI, and the Turning test — which tests whether a human can determine whether they’re talking to a computer or another human — has been solved. 1X is backed by OpenAI, which is the pre-eminent company in the AI space, and could well fit its AI capabilities into Neo. And with human-level intelligence, and a human-like form factor, and a price point that appears to be accessible to end consumers, 1X could end up finally making robotics mainstream in everyday life.