Norwegian robotics startup 1X plans to start early tests of its humanoid robot, Neo Gamma, in “a few hundred to a few thousand” homes by the end of 2025, according to the company’s CEO, Bernt Børnich.
“Neo Gamma is going into homes this year,” Børnich told TechCrunch in an interview at Nvidia GTC 2025. “We want to invite early adopters in this year to help us develop this system. We want it to live and learn among people, and to do that, we need people to take Neo into their home and help us teach it how to behave.”
In recent months, the hype around humanoid robots for the home seems to have reached new heights.
Figure, a Bay Area-based competitor to 1X with an active social media presence, announced in February that it would also begin home tests of its humanoid robots in 2025. Weeks later, Bloomberg reported Figure was in talks for a $1.5 billion fundraise at an eye-watering $40 billion valuation. OpenAI — a 1X investor — is also reportedly exploring building its own humanoid robots.
But putting heavy metal robots into peoples’ homes raises the stakes for the nascent industry. It’s not unlike autonomous vehicle startups putting their robotaxis on the road. It can turn south — quickly.
However, Børnich is quite open about the fact Neo Gamma is a long way off from commercial scaling and autonomy.
While Neo Gamma uses AI to walk and balance, the robot is not fully capable of autonomous movements today. To make in-home tests possible, Børnich says 1X is “bootstrapping the process” by relying on teleoperators — humans in remote locations that can view Neo Gamma’s cameras and sensors in real time, and take control of its limbs.
These in-home tests will allow 1X to collect data on how Neo Gamma operates in the home. Early adopters will help create a large, valuable dataset that 1X can use to train in-house AI models and upgrade Neo Gamma’s capabilities.
While backed by OpenAI, Børnich says 1X trains its core AI technology in-house today. The company also “occasionally” co-trains AI models with partners, including the aforementioned OpenAI and Nvidia.
Collecting data from microphones and cameras inside of peoples’ homes and then training AI models on it raises a whole host of privacy concerns, of course. In an email to TechCrunch, a company spokesperson said customers can decide when a 1X employee can view Neo Gamma’s surroundings — whether for auditing or teleoperation.
Unveiled in February, Neo Gamma is the first bipedal robot prototype that 1X plans to test outside of the lab. Compared to Neo Beta, its predecessor, Neo Gamma features an improved onboard AI model, and a knitted nylon body suit that aims to reduce potential injuries from robot-to-human contact.
During a demo at GTC, 1X showcased Neo Gamma’s ability to do some basic tasks in a living room setting — partially powered by a human operator. The robot vacuumed, watered plants, and walked around the room without bumping into people or furniture. However, it wasn’t flawless. At one point the robot started shaking, then collapsed into Børnich’s arms. A 1X employee blamed spotty Wi-Fi in the conference hall and low battery.
Much like Figure’s plans, details about 1X’s early adopter program are far from clear. 1X has yet to reveal its go-to-market strategy for Neo Gamma, although it does have a waitlist on its website. It’s also hard to imagine how using Neo Gamma at home will work without teleoperation. The spokesperson said 1X will provide a “more thorough explanation” at a later date.
While a few hundred or thousand people might get to try an early, human-assisted version of Neo Gamma this year, it seems we’re still many years away from autonomous humanoid robots that you can just buy off the shelf.
