This startup from Norway aims to bring humanoids homes

Investing.com -- Norwegian robotics startup 1X Technologies is placing a bold bet on the future of humanoids in the household, aiming to build fully autonomous bipedal robots for domestic use, according to a Morgan Stanley. 1X, which is still a private player, has raised about $140 million from backers including EQT (ST:EQTAB) Ventures, Tiger Global, and Samsung (KS:005930) NEXT, with Morgan Stanley highlighting the company as a notable disruptor in the rapidly evolving humanoid market.“While 1X and many other humanoid developers are currently private, we do not believe it is too early for public investors to play the theme,” analyst at Morgan Stanley said.Founded in 2015 as Halodi Robotics and rebranded in 2023, 1X is one of the few humanoid startups globally focused specifically on the consumer market, diverging from the industry’s typical emphasis on industrial or enterprise deployments.Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is also in the race to make commercial humanoid robot. Optimus, though still in the lab, may be ready to sell as soon as per Musk.  Its flagship robot, NEO, is designed to handle everyday tasks like washing dishes, doing laundry and cleaning floors.

The latest version, NEO Gamma, unveiled in February, includes upgrades such as a more natural human-like gait, a proprietary language model for conversation, and improved safety features. The company is preparing for wide-scale testing in hundreds to thousands of homes by the end of 2025 to train its in-house AI models.

1X takes a vertically integrated approach, developing its own hardware, including tendon-inspired actuators, and software, such as its "World Model" simulation engine. It recently showcased its technology alongside Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) at the chipmaker’s 2025 GTC conference, where the companies announced an expanded research partnership. OpenAI is also a minority investor in 1X.With 1X, the next member of your household might be human-shaped—but not human born, the analysts wrote.

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