1X Kicks Off Full-Scale Production Of Humanoid Robot Neo - Yahoo News Malaysia
“The NEO Factory in Hayward, California is America’s first vertically integrated high-volume humanoid robot factory,” the company said today. “Spanning 58,000 sq ft and already employing 200+ team members, the NEO Factory has commenced full-scale production...
Key takeaways
The most recent headlines show that the humanoid‑robot market is moving from prototype showcases to large‑scale manufacturing and strategic acquisitions. 1X’s NEO platform, which began preorder in October 2025, has entered full‑scale production at a 58,000‑square‑foot factory in Hayward, California, and the company says it will be able to build up to 100,000 units a year by the end of 2027, aiming to bring a $20,000 home assistant robot capable of chores, scheduling and basic interaction to U.S. households. At the same time, Meta has announced the purchase of Assured Robot Intelligence, a startup that develops foundation models for whole‑body humanoid control, signaling the social‑media giant’s intent to integrate advanced AI‑driven robots into future consumer products. In the industrial arena, Schaeffler is partnering with Hexagon Robotics to roll out 1,000 AEON humanoids across multiple factories starting in late 2026, with a longer‑term goal of 1,000 units by 2032, while its collaboration with VinDynamics aims to extend actuator technology to additional robot makers. Apptronik, bolstered by a fresh $935 million Series A round, has appointed former Waymo executive Daniel Chu as chief product officer and is preparing to launch its Apollo humanoid for commercial use in logistics, elder‑care and other sectors. Market analysts at Roland Berger project that, if current development trajectories hold, worldwide revenues from humanoid robots could reach $300 billion by 2035, potentially climbing to $750 billion under optimistic scenarios. Finally, the startup Foundation has begun testing its general‑purpose humanoid robots in a supply‑transport demo in Ukraine and has secured a $24 million Pentagon contract, underscoring growing interest in military applications despite remaining challenges such as battery life and durability.
“The NEO Factory in Hayward, California is America’s first vertically integrated high-volume humanoid robot factory,” the company said today. “Spanning 58,000 sq ft and already employing 200+ team members, the NEO Factory has commenced full-scale production of NEO.”
1X has another facility in San Carlos coming online later this year, the company added, and says that with planned increased in automation will be able to scale to 100,000 humanoid robots per year by the end of 2027.
Neo is a different kind of humanoid robot, and 1X is a different kind of humanoid robot company. Neo’s been squarely targeted at the home market; 1X says it will do basic tidying, fetch items, open doors for guests and more. The 5’6" robot weighs in at around 66 pounds, and will also remind you of birthdays, help you with scheduling, will remember conversations and orders you’ve given it and might even be able to fold your clothes.
Where many humanoid robot manufacturers outsource much of the physical bits and pieces to other companies – actuators come from Harmonic Drive in Japan or Chinese suppliers, battery cells are sourced from CATL or LG, motor controllers are off-the-shelf – 1X is extremely vertically oriented.
This is just another signal that we are very near if not right at the tipping point for humanoid robots. Agibot just shipped 5,000 in a single quarter, Figure has doubled production and deliveries for three months running, and Apptronik just hired new talent formerly at Boston Dynamics, Waymo and Amazon.
"Most people think humanoids are a robotics problem," CEO Bernt Børnich wrote. "They're wrong. It's a manufacturing problem. Production makes prototypes look easy."
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