OpenAI-Backed Robotics Company 1X Secures $100 Million Investment, Plans to Launch Home Service Robots
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1X Technologies, a Norwegian robotics startup supported by OpenAI and other companies, announced today that it has raised $100 million in a Series B funding round, with investments from well-known enterprises such as Samsung.
The investment was led by EQT Ventures, with participation from Samsung NEXT, the Nistad Group, and existing investors Sandwater and Skagerak Capital. The company stated that the funds will be used to support existing enterprise clients and to launch a new bipedal robot named "NEO," designed to work alongside humans to meet the growing demand for labor.
Image credit: AI-generated image, licensed by Midjourney 1X Technologies was founded a decade ago, initially named Halodi Robotics, with a focus on developing general-purpose robots to handle labor-intensive tasks. Over the years, the company has continuously advanced its technology, including creating the world's highest torque-to-weight ratio servo motors to mimic soft, organic muscle movements, and began offering products to enterprise clients.
However, the company's major breakthrough came in 2022 when 1X partnered with OpenAI to incorporate AI models into its robots, enhancing their intelligence. By utilizing language and embodied learning models, the robots can now understand user requests in natural language, perform corresponding tasks, and learn over time.
Eve Enterprise Robot The company has successfully deployed a wheeled enterprise robot named 'Eve,' collaborating with multiple organizations to perform industrial tasks such as moving equipment, opening doors, and navigating naturally in both unstructured and structured spaces. The robot's algorithms learned these tasks through training conducted at the company's studio in Norway. In a blog post last December, the company stated: 'At our studio in Moss, Norway, our robots are trained through embodied learning for practical tasks, general use, and industry-specific behaviors. Inspired by advancements in digital assistants and autonomous vehicles, 1X guides the robots through various real-world scenarios using VR Teleop, providing an intuitive understanding of task difficulty and feasibility. When data is collected on a large scale, the robots learn new skills.'
NEO Bipedal Robot
In addition to enterprise robots, the company is developing a bipedal robot named 'NEO' for the consumer market. This robot is designed to provide household services, supporting tasks such as cleaning, organizing, and performing chores. Although both robots can operate autonomously by default, 1X retains the option for remote control in case they encounter tasks they cannot handle, enter hazardous areas, or need to take extreme actions. Although 1X is currently manufacturing robots on a commercial scale, the company's exact growth figures remain undisclosed. Some client names highlighted on the company's website include Sunnass Hospital and Everon, which have deployed approximately 250 robots for nighttime security in commercial buildings.
This funding round brings 1X's total financing to nearly $137 million. The company plans to support existing enterprise customers while introducing its NEO robot into the consumer market, along with expanding its embodied AI data collection and training strategies. Ted Persson, Partner at EQT Ventures, stated in a release: "The integration of robots into our human workforce will have transformative effects. We are confident that 1X's NEO robots will play a pivotal role in our first attempts at shaping the future of technology and humanity."
Humanoid robots have long been in development, but recent advancements in artificial intelligence, particularly in language models, have significantly broadened their potential. Many organizations are currently experimenting with robotics and humanoid robots, including Hyundai Motor Group's Boston Dynamics and Elon Musk's Tesla, which is developing a general-purpose humanoid robot with AI capabilities called Optimus. According to MarketsAndMarkets, the artificial intelligence robotics market is expected to grow from $6.9 billion in 2021 to $35.3 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 39%.