Robotics startup 1X is taking a step closer to the future of humanoid robots lending a hand at home.
The Norwegian company backed by OpenAI has announced that it is looking to conduct early tests of its humanoid robot, Neo Gamma, by deploying it in “a few hundred to a few thousand” homes by the end of this year, according to a report by TechCrunch.
“Neo Gamma is going into homes this year. We want to invite early adopters in this year to help us develop this system. We want it to live and learn among people, and to do that, we need people to take Neo into their home and help us teach it how to behave,” 1X CEO Bernt Børnich was quoted as saying.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the Nvidia GTC 2025 conference held last week in San Jose, California.
However, the in-home tests will reportedly rely on 1X teleoperators who will be able to take control of Neo Gamma’s limbs and manually operate it from remote locations. This means that 1X’s humanoid robot is not yet fully capable of autonomous movements.
While 1X has trained its humanoid robots using AI models from OpenAI and Nvidia, the underlying AI technology of Neo Gamma allowing it to walk and balance itself has been developed in-house, the company said.
On the privacy concerns that stem from 1X teleoperators being able to view Neo Gamma’s surroundings, the company clarified that customers can decide when the humanoid robot can be audited and assisted by humans.
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By observing how Neo Gamma operates in a home environment, 1X is looking to build a large dataset that can further be used to train its in-house AI models powering the humanoid.
What is Neo Gamma?
Neo Gamma made its debut in February this year. It is reportedly the company’s first bipedal robot prototype to undergo testing outside of 1X’s labs.
The humanoid robot prototype comprises an AI model and is covered with a knitted nylon body suit to prevent injuries. 1X showed off Neo Gamma’s ability to carry out simple household chores such as vacuuming and watering the plants during a demo at the annual GTC conference last week, as per the report.
It is not alone in commencing home tests of humanoid robots as 1X rival Figure also made the same announcement in February. OpenAI is also reportedly looking to build its own humanoid robots.
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Meanwhile, the Optimus humanoid robots developed by Elon Musk-owned Tesla will also be ready for use by 2026, the company had said during its ‘We Robot’ event held last year. Although, Optimus could be seen on the Tesla factory floor a lot sooner.