NEO, a humanoid robot that does chores, has been made available for purchase. NEO is made and sold by the company 1X, which has been around since 2014. NEO starts for $20,000 with a $200 down payment or $499 a month in a subscription-based model. The robot stands at 5’6’’, weighs about 66lbs, and lifts to 154lbs with up to 4 hours of battery life. According to 1X’s webpage, it can handle simple tasks autonomously, such as opening doors and watering plants. For more complex tasks like cleaning or feeding animals, an expert from 1X would need to pilot the robot remotely. 1X also claims that the robot can respond to human gestures and retain information that has been previously stated to the robot. NEO is also integrated with a large language model AI to help the robot with conversing and reasoning. Humanoid robots have existed since 1939, but NEO is the first of its kind to reach a point where it is being integrated into an average person’s life. Tan Chen, an Electrical and Computer Engineer who works with humanoid robots at Tech, said, “It’s actually an easier application environment. I think NEO can be successful by saying successful, I mean, at least it’s easier for the robot to remain stable… There are some challenges; if we think about it, our hands are quite dexterous, we can do all kinds of things. Right now, for these kinds of robots, I think manipulation is still a challenge.”
Privacy concerns over the data collection and remote control capabilities have raised questions about robots like NEO in the home setting. The founder, Bernt Øivind Børnich, stated the data collection was “in order for 1X to train the NEO’s brain.” With the advent of new technology, concerns over bad actors taking control of devices like NEO for malicious intent are at the forefront of independent research and security evaluation. Tim Van Wagner, a cybersecurity professor at Tech, said, “Whether or not the security guards are put in place to prevent them is going to be the question. And that’s a question that can’t really be answered without actually digging into exactly what… The specs are…We have to limit tracking of IP addresses. We have to limit tracking of MAC addresses. We have to limit tracking of our usernames… So, as far as privacy concerns exist, I think we’re getting into a world where you either have to accept that these things are occurring in order to utilize the technology or stop using the technology. Now, there’s going to be a lot of people who would be upset by that concept.”
The NEO robot starts to ship out in 2026 and is fully refundable. For more information on NEO or 1x, the company behind NEO, you can go to https://www.1x.tech/ to learn more.
