1X, the Norwegian humanoid company that opened its vertically integrated factory in Hayward, California in April, is now taking consumer preorders for NEO. The robot retails for $20,000 outright or $499 per month on subscription. The deposit to reserve early-access delivery is $200. First units ship in 2026, U.S. first, with international rollout beginning in 2027.
What NEO actually does on day one is the part the press release is being honest about, which is rare. It opens doors for guests. It fetches items. It turns off lights at night. That is the launch capability. Everything beyond that is software updates 1X has implicitly committed to delivering on a roadmap that will be visible to every owner the moment a unit lands in a kitchen.
There are also configurable “no-go” zones in a companion app, plus an option to blur the faces of people NEO interacts with. The second feature is interesting. A consumer humanoid that walks around your house with cameras and cloud connectivity has a privacy attack surface that no Roomba or smart speaker has ever approached. The 2027 lawsuit docket against this product category is already being drafted, and 1X is the first vendor in the chair.
The competitive frame matters. Tesla pushed Optimus production start to late July or August, with the Gen 3 reveal earlier in the year and the Fremont line converting from Model S to robot. Figure is still operating in the BMW pilot and a handful of Spartanburg expansions. Unitree is shipping lower-end industrial bipeds into China. 1X is the first Western humanoid vendor to put a real number on a real consumer SKU and back it with a U.S. factory and a deposit page. The thesis “the home humanoid never ships in 2026” is dead in the water as of this week. Whether it ships well is a separate question, and one this site will be tracking.