The illusions of Neo
1X launches a household robot — entirely remote-controlled
A home robot capable of tidying up, doing the dishes, folding laundry, or watering plants… that’s the promise of Neo, the humanoid unveiled last week by the start-up 1X. Preorders have opened at $20,000 to buy or $500 per month to rent. “This is no longer science fiction,” claims founder and CEO Bernt Bornich. And yet, the glossy promo video for Neo turns out to be more illusion than revolution — a glimpse of a dream that’s still far from reality.
Over its nine-minute runtime, the video omits one crucial detail: with only two exceptions, none of the tasks shown are performed autonomously. In truth, the robot is being teleoperated by a human wearing a virtual reality headset and handheld controllers, as revealed in a Wall Street Journal investigation. Bernt Bornich insists this is merely a transitional training phase, meant to help Neo gradually “learn” how to act on its own.
Learning in many environments
Founded in 2014 in Norway and now based in Palo Alto, 1X initially focused on industrial robotics before pivoting three years ago toward domestic humanoids, spurred by the rapid progress of artificial intelligence. Neo is powered by a Nvidia chip, enabling it to interact with its surroundings and respond to natural language instructions.
Mechanically, the robot appears fairly advanced, though some actions remain painfully slow. In the Wall Street Journal video, for instance, Neo takes five minutes to load two glasses and a fork into a dishwasher. Its main weakness lies in its “brain”: it still needs to learn how to perform a wide range of tasks across different home environments. “It can do most things autonomously, but not at the desired quality level,” admits Bernt Bornich.
A paid beta test
The start-up’s CEO insists that by the time Neo officially launches next year, it will be able to handle many tasks on its own — though that claim remains impossible to verify. For everything else, users will need to book a session with a remote operator, who will take control of the robot — effectively entering their homes via the internet. “Without this data, we can’t improve the product,” explains Bernt Bornich. In other words, early buyers are effectively paying to join a beta test.
According to the company, each task requires about 100 hours of training data. That model inevitably raises privacy concerns. 1X promises safeguards: faces will be blurred, preselected rooms will remain off-limits, and recorded footage won’t be viewed by humans without consent. “If you buy Neo, it’s because you accept this social contract,” says Bernt Bornich.
Pitching investors
Ultimately, 1X’s announcement seems designed more to attract attention and investors than to deliver a finished product. Preorders require only a refundable $200 deposit, and no release date has been announced. The start-up appears keen to dominate the media narrative and sell a vision, not a market-ready robot, while simultaneously seeking to raise an additional $1 billion, on top of the $137 million already secured from investors including OpenAI.
1X isn’t alone in the race. Tesla has also shown off its humanoid robot, Optimus, though its demonstrations have likewise been criticized as misleading. The automaker has since stopped making promises about timelines after hinting at a 2027 release. In September, Figure raised $1 billion to develop a humanoid aimed at mass production, without specifying a launch date. Other players, such as Apptronik, Agility Robotics, and The Bot Company, are chasing the same dream.
Photo: 1X