1X Technologies
Bernt Øivind Børnich
Data verified as of Sep 23, 2026
Summary
1X Technologies is a Norwegian-American humanoid company founded in 2014 in Moss, Norway as Halodi Robotics by Bernt Øivind Børnich. It rebranded as 1X in 2022, moved its global headquarters to an 80,000 square foot Palo Alto site in 2025, and is betting the company on NEO, a 5 foot 6 inch, 66 lb soft-skinned home humanoid sold at $20,000 for early access or $499 a month. Pre-orders opened October 28, 2025; 1X says the first-year 10,000-unit allocation sold out in five days. OpenAI's startup fund led a $23.5 million Series A2 in 2023 and EQT Ventures led a $100 million Series B in January 2024, taking disclosed funding to about $123.5 million. A 58,000 square foot vertically integrated 'NEO Factory' in Hayward, California opened April 30, 2026 with 200+ staff. CEO Bernt Børnich said on September 18, 2026 that Hayward's fully ramped capacity is about 10,000 units a year but will not produce that many in 2026 because the line reaches full rate late in the year, that a San Carlos site would add 100,000 units of annual capacity mostly late in 2027, and that 1X is aiming to ship 50,000 robots in 2027 across home, enterprise, and developer uses, with the real gate being that customers do not send them back. Early Hayward units are going to 1X's own labs and home-testing program; the company still promises first US customer shipments in 2026. EQT separately committed to make up to 10,000 NEOs available to its 300-plus portfolio companies through 2030. Early NEO tasks have relied on human teleoperation, which 1X treats as a data-collection loop rather than the end state. A reported effort to raise up to $1 billion at $10 billion-plus in 2025 has not been confirmed as closed, and August 2026 reports of SoftBank talks at about $6 billion remain unverified.
Main Products
What's Next
Ship the first consumer NEOs in 2026
Hayward is running, but 1X has been explicit that early robots are for internal testing. The order page still says US deliveries start in 2026. The milestone that turns a sold-out pre-order into a business is a customer taking delivery, not another factory tour.
Bring San Carlos online toward 100,000 units/year
Børnich said in September 2026 that San Carlos would add 100,000 units of annual capacity, with most of that volume coming online late in 2027, on top of Hayward's 10,000-unit fully ramped rate. Combined nameplate is about 110,000 a year; the 50,000-unit 2027 shipment goal is a separate, lower number.
Ship 50,000 robots in 2027 without a return wave
The CEO's September 2026 target is 50,000 units next year across home, enterprise, and developer uses. He said the gating item is not the shipment count but ensuring customers do not send the robots back, and that early hardware fixes should reach deployed units, not only new production.
Move NEO off teleoperation for core home tasks
Hands-on coverage at launch showed most household tasks still run by a remote operator in a VR headset. The World Model Lab and the 25-DoF hands are the software and hardware bets that those tasks start running onboard. No public date has been given for dropping the human-in-the-loop mode.
Operations & Revenue
Hayward is building NEOs, but 1X has said units coming off the line are prioritized for internal R&D and home testing. The order page still says US deliveries start in 2026. Børnich said in September 2026 that Hayward will not produce 10,000 units this year because full rate arrives late, and that 50,000 shipments in 2027 is the target if quality holds. Early household tasks have used human teleoperators. A 2025 report that 1X was seeking up to $1 billion at $10 billion-plus, and August 2026 reports of SoftBank talks around $6 billion, have not been confirmed as closed transactions.
Key Metrics
- Employees
- 200+ at the Hayward factory (Apr 2026); 88 open roles listed Sep 2026
- Est. Annual Revenue
- Not disclosed. Pre-orders and a $200 deposit are a demand signal, not recognized 2026 product revenue. Consumer shipments were still described as starting in 2026 as of the April 30 factory post and the live order page.
- Hayward Factory Capacity
- ~10,000/year when fully ramped; CEO said that rate arrives late 2026, so 2026 output will be below 10,000
Timeline
On April 30, 2026 1X opens a 58,000 square foot vertically integrated factory in Hayward, California, stood up in about three months, with 200+ employees and first-year capacity of 10,000 NEOs. A San Carlos site is intended to support a path toward 100,000 units a year by the end of 2027. Early line output is prioritized for 1X's own R&D and home-testing program; consumer shipments are still promised in 2026.
On September 18, 2026 CEO Bernt Børnich told Relentless that 1X aims to ship 50,000 robots in 2027 across home, enterprise, and developer uses, while saying Hayward would reach its 10,000-unit annual rate only late in 2026 (too late to produce 10,000 this year) and that a San Carlos plant would add 100,000 units of annual capacity, mostly late in 2027. He framed the hard problem as keeping shipped robots from coming back.
On October 28, 2025 1X opens NEO pre-orders at $20,000 early access or $499 per month, with a $200 refundable deposit and US deliveries promised in 2026. The company later said the entire first-year 10,000-unit allocation booked out in five days.
