Humanoid robots are ready to do your housework in 2026 — and can be yours for $20,000 - New York Post

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Humanoid robots are ready to do your housework in 2026 — and can be yours for $20,000

By

Michael Kaplan and

wzimmermannyp

Published Jan. 3, 2026, 9:00 a.m. ET

Twenty-five years of the new millennium have passed and we’re still waiting for the futuristic world we were promised: Living in space, hover-cars, jet packs and extraterrestrial encounters.

However, one technology straight out of “The Jetsons” is tantalizingly close: humanoid robots. Even better, the field is being led by forward-thinking US companies, such as Agility Robotics and Tesla. 1X Technologies, originally a Scandinavian company, but now with its headquarters in Silicon Valley, is answering that question. The company was founded in 2014 and specializes in developing AI-powered robotics.

The NEO Gamma robot, 1X’s most ambitious effort yet, stands 5’ 6” and is very much a humanoid – with camera-infused eyes behind a dark shield on a human shaped head, baring a striking resemblance to one of the suits worn by French electronic music duo Daft Punk. NEO Gamma’s body perfectly suits the futuristic look of its clothing.

“Early adopters” are already ordering the bots for $20,000 with delivery anticipated for later in 2026. ## Digit v4, created by Agility Robotics

Up and running in warehouses of companies including Amazon, the Digit v4 is a workhorse. Agility Robotics, which grew out of Oregon State University’s robotics lab, is founded by professors and grad students, and has been evolving since 2019. The Digit is designed to do one very specific thing: move plastic bins that hold products in a warehouse or factory. It’s the kind of job that grinds down humans and leaves us with aching backs. But it is no sweat for a robot.

Billed as the “world’s first commercially deployed humanoid robot,” the Digit V4 contains some 5,000 parts. Advanced artificial intelligence allows it to do not only what it is programmed for, but also to experience what is happening around it as well as to react on its own.