On August 31, 2024, Norwegian American robotics company 1X shared a short YouTube teaser of its NEO Beta robot, which looks like a guy in a jumpsuit, but it’s a real machine!
The 30-second clip shows the robot bending down to pick up a woman’s backpack and then handing it to her. Then, NEO beckons her to come closer and puts its arm on her shoulders.
The company receives support from OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, which will soon turn NEO into a fully functioning household helper robot.
What are the NEO Beta robot’s features?
The official 1X website says its flagship humanoid robot is 5.41’ tall and weighs 66 lbs. Moreover, it can walk at 2.5 mph and run at 7.5 mph.
It can carry up to 44 lbs and operate on a single charge for two to four hours. Also, its body uses a tendon-driven system that enables it to mimic human movements more closely.
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The company chose its humanoid form so that users can interact with the robot easily. The video demonstration may seem innocuous, but CNET says it reveals the company’s unique approach to marketing the machine.
The tech news platform explains most robotics companies show interactions between humans and robots to show they can collaborate.
In contrast, 1X seems to be selling its robot as a closer household companion. The OpenAI-backed firm is improving NEO Beta to gain the following capabilities:
- Performing chores like cleaning and organizing household items
- Supporting individuals with disabilities
- Fetching objects
- Providing companionship
Newsweek reported that 1X CEO and founder Bernt Børnich prioritized safety in their robot’s design.
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“It’s all about making sure that there’s as little energy in the system as possible,” Børnich said. Additionally, Eric Jang, Vice President of AI at 1X, explained how the company trained NEO Beta’s artificial intelligence:
“We collect a large, diverse set of robot data with our humanoids, both Eve and NEO. We train a robotic foundation model that captures all kinds of knowledge about the world, and then we turn that into a helpful assistant.”
Børnich also outlined his upcoming plans:
“2025 will be the year of scaling this. 2026 is kind of, like, still early adopter, scaling, manufacturing, gathering all the data to make the systems intelligent enough to be really, really genuinely useful.”