1X has officially opened its NEO Factory in Hayward, California, marking a shift from development to full-scale manufacturing.
The facility, spanning 58,000 square feet and staffed by more than 200 employees, is now producing NEO humanoid robots under one roof. Unlike many robotics operations that rely on fragmented supply chains, 1X is taking a vertically integrated approach, building core components in-house including motors, batteries, transmissions, sensors, structural systems, and final assembly.
That level of control is not just about efficiency. It is about speed and iteration. By keeping the entire production stack internal, 1X can refine hardware and software in tighter loops, which is critical for a category as complex and still-evolving as humanoid robotics.
The opening of the factory connects directly to the company’s broader push toward scale. Through its previously announced partnership with EQT, 1X is targeting the deployment of up to 10,000 humanoid robots across EQT’s global portfolio of companies. That includes industries like logistics, manufacturing, and healthcare, with early rollouts expected to begin in 2026.
Now, with production underway, that number starts to look less like a long-term ambition and more like a manufacturing target.
The robots coming off the line are part of the NEO platform, a humanoid system designed to operate in human environments rather than specialized industrial setups. In the factory footage, NEO moves with controlled, human-like motion, handling objects and navigating space in a way that reflects its intended role as a general-purpose machine.
1X is positioning NEO primarily as a home robot, but the underlying design has clear implications beyond consumer use. A system that can function safely in homes can also translate to workplaces where flexibility and human compatibility are essential.
The company says the first units are already coming off the production line, with initial consumer shipments planned for 2026. That timeline puts 1X among a small group of companies attempting to move humanoid robots into real-world deployment at meaningful scale.
For years, the biggest barrier in robotics has not been capability but production. Many companies have demonstrated what humanoids can do. Very few have shown they can build them in volume. The opening of the NEO Factory is 1X’s attempt to close that gap.
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