1X Neo Home: the first humanoid sold to consumers (with caveats)

1X, the Norwegian robotics startup backed by OpenAI, makes the most-debated announcement of Q4 2025: it opens preorders for "Neo Home", the first humanoid robot meant to be sold directly into homes. Price: $20,000 + $499/month subscription. Deliveries starting 2026.

What it does: clean, put groceries away, fold laundry, help with small tasks. The controversial twist is the operating model: for tasks the robot can't do autonomously, a remote human teleoperator takes over. It's a hybrid robot — part AI, part person on the other side of the world seeing inside your home.

The debate is heated: critics say it's essentially "a remote housekeeper in Africa via Zoom in a robot shell"; supporters say it's the realistic path to home AI (teleoperation data collected = future training data for full autonomy).