1X Technologies is shifting its near-term focus from the home to the workplace with its new agreement to supply private-equity giant EQT with humanoids for B2B use cases.
The startup, which was launched in Norway as 2014 and is now headquartered in Palo Alto, had differentiated itself from competitors like Tesla and Figure AI by focusing exclusively on household applications since it introduced its first NEO prototype in summer 2024. 1X continues to offer its flagship NEO humanoid available for preorder for $20,000 outright or $499 per month, with shipments expected sometime next year.
According to the deal, 1X will make up to 10,000 of its humanoids available to Stockholm-based EQT’s portfolio of more than 300 companies between 2026 and 2030. EQT, a key 1X investor, has a portfolio spanning logistics, manufacturing, healthcare, infrastructure, and technology.
“This partnership brings humanoid robotics into the real economy,” 1X founder and CEO Bernt Bornich said in a press release. “EQT’s global reach and operational expertise make them the ideal partner to help deploy our technology safely, responsibly, and at scale. Together, we aim to demonstrate how humanoid robots can enhance productivity, improve safety, and create more sustainable labor models worldwide.”
The pivot brings 1X, which was formerly known as Halodi Robotics, closer to its original mission of building and deploying robots for business applications. It also makes 1X more competitive with industrial-first peers like Google-backed Apptronik, Boston Dynamics, and Agility Robotics, which just announced a new commercial agreement with ecommerce giant Mercado Libre to deploy its Digit humanoids at a San Antonio fulfillment center.
1X’s first commercially available robot, the wheeled humanoid EVE, was introduced in 2018 and has been piloted in logistics, security, healthcare, and other industrial environments. The announcement did not specify whether the robots to be deployed will be NEO or EVE humanoids or a mix of both. EQT, which first invested in 1X in 2023, says the robots will be used to tackle labor shortages, improve safety, and enhance productivity.
“Humanoid robotics is moving from fiction to real-world deployment, and 1X is uniquely positioned to lead the next wave of mass-market robotic adoption,” EQT lead partner Ted Persson said in a statement. “This isn’t about replacing people, it’s about giving them superpowers.”
1X captured global attention and drew mixed reactions when it opened preorders for what it calls the world’s first consumer-ready humanoid robot for homes in October 2025. As advertised, the next-generation NEO humanoid basically outperforms and undercuts everything in its class coming to market. 1X says customers will be able to delegate daily domestic chores to NEO like folding laundry, organizing shelves, and tidying rooms by voice command or through an app.
NEO’s built-in artificial intelligence remembers preferences, responds naturally in conversations, and understands its surroundings. It’s powered by 1X’s self-developed Redwood AI model, which gains new skills through updates and experiences. 1X describes the vision-language-action (VLA) model as sophisticated enough to empower NEO to enter unfamiliar spaces and get to work right away.
Though 1X says it’s working toward full autonomy, the startup plans to rely on offsite teleoperators for initial deployments. The robot will have an “expert mode” where a remote human operator can step in when the robot encounters an unfamiliar task. The idea of letting strangers peep into personal spaces is a showstopper for many, but 1X insists its technology respects privacy preferences with options to blur faces and to not store sensitive data.
“We hope to ship a mostly fully autonomous robot in 2026, but chose to not promise anything that does not already work today,” Bornich said on social media at the time.
1X’s realignment comes as the US intensifies its push into robotics to compete with China, which is determined to own the emerging humanoid market by 2027. The People’s Republic has easily surpassed its initial 2025 goal of shipping more than 10,000 humanoids, with some reports suggesting it’s exceeded 30,000 units. President Trump just signed an executive order blocking states from enforcing their own AI regulations. The White House is also reportedly preparing an executive order to accelerate robotics deployments in 2026.