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 →

Figure

In-Home Testing 2025

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

Explore Figure Hub →

Tesla

Target 2026 (TBD)

Factory-first deployments; consumer pricing and dates unannounced.

Explore Tesla Hub →

Concept 03

Ledger Tape

Striped backgrounds evoke research tape—built for quick comparisons and capability summaries.

1X · Ops Tape 1X NEO humanoid robot

NEO

Log telepresence roles, coverage sectors, and support hours in tidy ledger blocks.

Security Global

Figure · Pilot Tape Figure humanoid robot

Figure 03

Note alpha learnings, assembly tasks, and staffing ratios without clutter.

BMW Pilot 2025

Tesla · Roadmap Tape Tesla Optimus humanoid robot

Optimus

Track gigafactory milestones, unit counts, and consumer outlook in easy columns.

Factory First Roadmap

Concept 04

Glass Triptych

Frosted glass cards for a premium night-mode moment that still carries the trio side by side.

1X · Night Ops 1X NEO humanoid robot

NEO

Use subtle glow to emphasize overnight patrol reliability metrics.

Teleops Security

Figure · Studio Glass Figure humanoid robot

Figure 03

Set off the silhouette with cool highlights and space for demo headlines.

AI Stack Sunnyvale

Tesla · Glass Deck Tesla Optimus humanoid robot

Optimus

Dark framing keeps torque specs and deployment cadence legible for late-night decks.

125 Nm Austin

Today's Briefing

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

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.

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 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