1X Opens US Factory, Targets 10,000 Humanoid Robots in First Year

Norway-founded robotics firm 1X Technologies has opened a new manufacturing facility in Hayward, California, to scale humanoid robot production.

The 58,000-square-foot site is designed to produce up to 10,000 robots in its first year, with plans to scale output to more than 100,000 units annually by 2027, according to Bloomberg. The factory will serve as a key production hub as the company ramps up commercial rollout of its humanoid robot, Neo.

The new plant reflects a push to localize manufacturing. While most humanoid robots today are produced in China, 1X is betting on US-based, vertically integrated production. The facility already employs more than 200 workers and is expected to expand further as production ramps up.

Unlike many competitors, the company builds critical components in-house, including motors, batteries, electronics, and sensors. This approach is intended to speed up product improvements and reduce reliance on global supply chains. 

That philosophy extends all the way to NEO’s brain. Each robot runs on NVIDIA’s Jetson Thor computing platform for real-time onboard AI processing, and is trained using NVIDIA’s Isaac simulation framework before it ever enters a home.

Meet NEO

Standing 5’6″ tall and weighing around 66 pounds, NEO is soft to the touch by design. It has no pinch points, no hard edges, a deliberate safety choice for a robot intended to live alongside people.

Early buyers can choose from three colorways (Tan, Gray, and Dark Brown) and two purchase models: an outright Early Access price of $20,000, or a monthly subscription at $499. Pre-orders opened in October 2025, and the first year’s production capacity reportedly sold out within five days.

According to 1X, NEO can tidy up, fetch items, open doors, remind you of birthdays, manage your schedule, remember prior conversations, and may eventually help fold laundry. The company has also floated elder care as a long-term use case. Users can teach the robot new tasks by demonstrating them through a VR headset and controllers. It also holds conversations, something Bernt Børnich, 1X’s CEO and founder, has compared to interacting with ChatGPT.

Shipments, timelines, and early testing

While production has started, customer deliveries are still ahead. Most reports indicate shipments will begin in 2026, with early units going through internal testing and validation programs. The company has said it plans to iterate quickly based on real-world feedback, a strategy made easier by its in-house manufacturing model.

1X is not building in a vacuum. Tesla is working toward scaling its Optimus robot, also targeting a sub-$20,000 price point. Figure AI has been doubling production and deliveries for three consecutive months. And China’s humanoid sector, supported by state subsidies and a deep domestic supply chain, already accounted for the majority of the roughly 13,000 humanoid units shipped worldwide last year.

Also read: Explore where Neo stacks up against Tesla Optimus, Unitree, and more in our full humanoid robot power rankings.

The post 1X Opens US Factory, Targets 10,000 Humanoid Robots in First Year appeared first on eWEEK.