Humanoid Robots,
Without the Hype.

A crisp weekly briefing on who's closest to your living room—and what's still a lab demo. Zero filler, all context.

The Big 3: Race to Your Home

Tracking the companies closest to putting a humanoid robot in your living room

Preorders Open

NEO targets household chores with teleop + growing autonomy; deliveries slated 2026.

Explore 1X Hub →
In-Home Testing 2025

Figure 03 frames a home helper path; not on sale yet—watch alpha learnings.

Explore Figure Hub →
Target 2026 (TBD)

Factory-first deployments; consumer pricing and dates unannounced.

Explore Tesla Hub →
Concept 03

Spec Matrix

A comparison grid for operators who want numbers firstsort focus, momentum, and stack in polished lanes.

Profile
1X · Concierge 1X NEO humanoid robot
NEO
Teleop Global
Figure · Alpha Figure humanoid robot
Figure 03
BMW 20kg Lift
Tesla · Lab Tesla Optimus humanoid robot
Optimus
Dojo Factory
Focus
Concierge patrols, safety guardrails, and deposit queue updates.
Assembly teammates, VLM autonomy, and hospitality rehearsals.
Gigafactory throughput, torque gains, and labor redeploy.
Momentum
Live concierge pilots, extended guard tours, and 24/7 teleops.
BMW line drills, coffee demo replays, early smart-home testing.
Gen 3 factory sightings, motor reuse, and investor deck cadence.
Stack
Teleops + autonomy blend, remote ops tooling, concierge apps.
Vision-language brains, dexterous hands, safety instrumentation.
Dojo perception, Tesla drive units, in-house actuators.

Today's Briefing

What happened, what it means, and why you should care

Humanoid funding thumbnail

1X Opens NEO Preorders with $10K Deposit

Funding Consumer

Norwegian robotics company 1X has begun accepting $10,000 refundable deposits for its NEO humanoid robot, targeting delivery in 2026. The bipedal robot stands 5'5" and is designed for household tasks.

Why it matters: Preorders don't equal shipments. But they do force a support model, supply chain, and clear definitions of "works today"—all prerequisites for a real home robot.
Robot demo thumbnail

Figure Demonstrates Autonomous Coffee Making

Demo AI

Figure's latest video shows Figure 03 making coffee autonomously using vision-language models. The demo runs in real-time with no teleoperation, though the controlled environment is carefully staged.

Why it matters: Real autonomy in one task doesn't mean general household competence. But it's a clear milestone: consistent, repeatable execution without human intervention.
Tesla factory thumbnail

Tesla Optimus Gen 3 Spotted in Fremont Factory

Tesla Industrial

Multiple Gen 3 Optimus units were filmed performing battery cell handling tasks at Tesla's Fremont plant. Elon Musk stated internal deployment will scale to "hundreds" by end of 2025.

Why it matters: Factory deployment = real stress testing. Data from industrial use directly feeds home-robot development, especially for manipulation and reliability.

Never Miss a Briefing

Every Friday morning. Zero filler. 100% free.

Road to the Home

When will you actually be able to buy one? Here's the timeline.

Q4 2024

1X Opens NEO Preorders

$10K refundable deposits accepted. Limited production run targeting early adopters and development partners.

Consumer
Q2 2025

Figure In-Home Alpha Testing

Select households to receive Figure 03 units for supervised testing. Focus on laundry, dishes, and basic organization.

Research
Late 2025

Tesla Optimus Factory Scale-Up

Hundreds of units deployed in Tesla factories. Consumer pricing and availability timeline TBD.

Industrial
2026

First Consumer Deliveries

1X NEO deliveries begin to preorder customers. Figure and Tesla timelines remain unconfirmed for consumer sales.

Consumer

Deep Dives & Explainers

Understand the tech, cut through the marketing BS

Teleoperation vs Full Autonomy

What's the difference between a human controlling a robot remotely and true AI-driven autonomy? And why does it matter for your home?

📖 2 min read

Safety & Regulation

Home robots need to be safe around kids, pets, and fragile objects. What standards exist, and who's actually testing for them?

📖 3 min read

Demos vs Reality

Folding laundry in a demo video ≠ doing your laundry reliably. Here's what actually works today vs what's carefully staged theater.

📖 4 min read

Product Comparison

Side-by-side specs for the leading home humanoid robots

Company Model Height/Weight Mobility Hands/Grip Typical Tasks Availability Pricing
1X NEO 5'5" / 66 lbs Bipedal, wheels 2-finger grippers Cleaning, organizing 2026 (preorder) ~$30K est.
Figure Figure 03 5'6" / 130 lbs Bipedal 5-finger hands Dishes, laundry, coffee Alpha 2025 TBD
Tesla Optimus Gen 3 5'8" / 160 lbs Bipedal 5-finger hands Factory tasks, TBD home TBD <$25K target
View Full Interactive Comparison →

Video Spotlight

Latest demos with expert context—no hype, just facts

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Figure 03: Autonomous coffee making | Teleoperation: No | Environment: Staged | Watch with analysis →

Jobs & Community

Work on the robots that will change how we live

Senior Robotics Engineer
1X Technologies
San Francisco, CA • Full-time
Machine Learning Researcher
Figure AI
Sunnyvale, CA • Full-time
Perception Engineer
Tesla
Palo Alto, CA • Full-time
View All Jobs → Ask an Expert