Overview
In the increasingly crowded Thunderdome of humanoid robotics, where every tech giant and their venture-funded cousin is building a bipedal marvel, Norway’s 1X Technologies is taking a curiously pragmatic approach. Founded in 2014 as Halodi Robotics by the unflappably ambitious Bernt Øivind Børnich, 1X isn’t just chasing sci-fi dreams; it’s methodically trying to build an android that can actually work for a living, preferably without tripping over the dog. Backed by some of the heaviest hitters in tech, including a significant investment from the OpenAI Startup Fund, 1X is developing androids with the stated mission of augmenting the global labor market and eventually helping out in your home.
The company’s strategy has been a tale of two bots. First came EVE, a wheeled android that looks like a sleek mannequin torso on a Segway. EVE has been the company’s workhorse, deployed in the real world for tasks like security patrols to gather the mountains of data needed to teach an AI how to exist outside a laboratory. Now, all eyes are on NEO, the bipedal successor designed to walk, learn, and eventually integrate into our daily lives. 1X’s big bet is that by starting with practical, data-gathering applications and focusing on safe, compliant hardware, it can build a useful android before its rivals build one that can merely do a backflip.
Key Points
- Founded: 2014 in Oslo, Norway by Bernt Øivind Børnich, initially as Halodi Robotics.
- Focus: Creating general-purpose humanoid robots (androids) to address labor shortages and assist in home environments.
- Key Products: EVE, a wheeled humanoid for commercial data gathering and security, and NEO, a bipedal humanoid designed for domestic and general-purpose tasks.
- Funding: Secured significant funding, including a $23.5M Series A2 led by the OpenAI Startup Fund and a $100M Series B, with investors like Tiger Global and Samsung NEXT.
- Leadership: Helmed by founder and CEO Bernt Øivind Børnich, who champions a home-first, safety-oriented approach to humanoid development.
- Core Technology: Relies on proprietary high torque-to-weight motors (Revo1), a tendon-based drive system for compliant movement, and an AI model trained on real-world data collected by its EVE fleet.
- Market Strategy: A phased approach beginning with commercial deployment of wheeled robots (EVE) to train AI, followed by the launch of bipedal robots (NEO) for the consumer market, with pre-orders now open.
Analysis
From Halodi to 1X: A Calculated Evolution
1X didn’t just appear in the current AI-fueled humanoid hype cycle. Its origins as Halodi Robotics were grounded in a more sober reality: developing safe actuator technology. This safety-first principle remains a core differentiator. While competitors were showcasing brute strength and dynamic agility, Halodi was perfecting motors and tendon-like mechanics that wouldn’t accidentally punch a hole through your drywall. The 2022 rebrand to 1X signaled a shift in ambition, moving from industrial components to a full-stack android solution, with a sharpened focus on the home market.
This evolution is embodied in their robots. EVE was a brilliant strategic move. By putting a torso on wheels, 1X bypassed the still-monumental challenge of stable, efficient bipedal locomotion. This allowed them to deploy units for security and logistics far earlier than competitors, turning real-world environments into data-collection goldmines for training their AI. That data now fuels the brain of NEO, the bipedal successor that represents the company’s ultimate vision.
The Leader: Bernt Øivind Børnich
Every robotics company needs a visionary at the helm, and Bernt Øivind Børnich fits the bill, albeit with a practical Norwegian twist. Unlike some of his more bombastic Silicon Valley counterparts, Børnich’s public persona is one of focused determination. His vision is less about creating a sci-fi spectacle and more about solving a looming societal problem: labor shortages. He argues that for androids to become truly intelligent, they must “live and learn alongside humans,” a philosophy driving the company’s push into the home.
Børnich has been clear that the initial journey for NEO will be a collaborative one, with early adopters effectively becoming part of the training team. He frames Tesla’s Optimus as a robot for industry, positioning his 66-pound, soft-bodied NEO as something “suitable for homes.” This pragmatic, almost humble approach to a profoundly difficult engineering challenge is a stark contrast to the “fully autonomous by next Tuesday” promises often heard in the field.
Technology and Innovation
Under the hood, 1X’s approach is all about safe, efficient mechanics. The company developed its own high-torque, lightweight servo motor, the Revo1, which powers a tendon-based system designed to mimic human muscle actuation. This results in movements that are compliant and gentle, a non-negotiable feature for a robot intended to share your living space. NEO weighs just 30 kg (66 lbs) but is reportedly capable of lifting many times its own weight, demonstrating an impressive power-to-weight ratio.
On the software side, the partnership with OpenAI is more than just a stamp of approval. 1X leverages large AI models for tasks like natural language understanding while building its own proprietary Vision-Language-Action (VLA) model, dubbed Redwood, trained on the data from EVE’s real-world deployments. The strategy is clear: use the wheeled EVE fleet as a sensory platform to teach the bipedal NEO how to navigate the messy, unpredictable human world.
Market Position and Competitors
1X is wading into a fiercely competitive arena. Figure AI is deploying its humanoids in BMW factories, Tesla’s Optimus looms large with the manufacturing might of an automotive giant, and Agility Robotics is already shipping its Digit robot for logistics tasks. Yet 1X has carved out a unique position by explicitly targeting the home. While others focus on structured industrial environments, 1X is betting that solving for the chaos of a household is the fastest path to true general-purpose intelligence.
Their biggest differentiator is their data-first strategy via the EVE androids and their hardware’s intrinsic safety. Competitors may have more dynamic or powerful robots, but few can claim to have as much real-world interactive data from commercial deployments. This could give 1X a significant edge in training AI that is robust and adaptable, assuming their hardware can keep pace.
Verdict
1X Technologies is playing the long game with a refreshingly sensible strategy. By putting a wheeled robot into the field first, they’ve managed to start collecting valuable real-world data while everyone else was still trying to teach their bipedal bots not to fall over. Their hardware, designed from the ground up for safety and compliance, is a sober acknowledgment that a home robot’s first job is not to be terrifying. The backing from OpenAI and a war chest of over $125 million gives them the resources to pursue this methodical vision.
However, the chasm between a teleoperated robot vacuuming a minimalist apartment in a demo and an autonomous android reliably doing your laundry is vast and treacherous. The company is asking early adopters to pay $20,000 or $499 a month to be beta testers on a “journey” toward autonomy. This is a clever way to fund R&D, but it relies heavily on consumer patience and faith in a product that is, by their own admission, not yet complete. The competition is not standing still, and the technical hurdles for robust bipedalism and true autonomous generalization remain immense.
Ultimately, 1X is the most intriguing kind of contender: not the strongest or the fastest, but perhaps the cleverest. If their bet pays off, NEO won’t just be the first humanoid in our homes; it’ll be the one that learned how to behave itself at work first. For a $200 deposit, you can get a front-row seat to see if it becomes your future butler or just the world’s most sophisticated coat rack.
