- 1X robot production facility currently building Neo robots
- One factory worker looks particularly familiar
- The company said plans to bring humanoid robots to homes by the end of this year are on track.
Buying your own home robot is still difficult. Humanoids like Tesla Optimus and Figure AI are not yet available, and 1X’s $20,000 Neo Home Robot is still on pre-order. But at least Neo is doing his best to keep the operation going, and a newly released video shows he’s helping with his own production.
1X released a nearly three-minute video on Thursday that virtually shows the entire manufacturing process for the Neo robot, from machining key components to weaving the touchable and huggable fabric to equipping it with an Nvidia GPU.
The video includes close-up views of lathes, CNC systems, and overhead shots of a large factory where thousands of workers are assembling robots. However, the 1X Neo robot assists you throughout. In essence, they are building each other up.
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Although most robots do not appear to be operating heavy machinery, they can be seen carrying, sorting, and collecting parts. As they collect gears and pulleys from these blue boxes, one wonders if they recognize the parts as pieces of themselves.
1X has been working with Nvidia for more than a year, using its silicon and AI models to train Neo robots to perform basic home care tasks, such as taking cups out of the dishwasher and putting them away. There’s obviously been a lot of training and simulation since then, and that’s probably what made Neo’s new factory worker role possible.
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Another surprising thing about this video is the scale of the operation. 1X said in its video description that it employs 200 people in a 58,000-square-foot facility based in Hayward, California. In one room, they appear to be assembling dozens of neobots at once. They all hang from the rack, the heads usually in place, but the limbs in the process of being introduced.
1X’s goal here seems to be less to show that their robots are part of their operations (which is done very casually) and more to show the expertise and care that goes into each build. At one point, I could see someone carefully adding the robot’s mouthless face, as if they were working with fine china.
But various components are also seen undergoing stress tests inside plastic cages. When the Neo arrives at your home, you won’t receive the personal attention these engineers give you. Family life can be tough. The stress test was apparently designed to ensure Neo was up to the task.
Will an all-robot production facility be next?
It’s fun to see Neo’s cloth skin zipped up, but the final step, where the lone engineer checks tolerances, looks decidedly staged, especially since it’s in a very nice room and the engineer uses his own custom light wall.
As the production process accelerates and 1X starts selling hundreds (or more) of these robots, one might wonder if the Neo robots will take on more important production tasks. At what point are we witnessing an all-robot production facility that only produces robots that look just like all factory workers? Humans are likely to be part of that loop for a long time to come, and that’s probably the way we all prefer it.
Either way, the video marks a potential turning point for humanoid robots, especially the 1X Neo home robot, which the company promises is on track to begin shipping to customers early this year. It’s anyone’s guess how many people have pre-ordered the $20,000 robot or signed up for the $499/month subscription plan. If you do, just know that there’s a pretty good chance that neo-humanoids helped build your robot.
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