1X Technologies (Norway, $100M raised) is developing NEO, a humanoid robot designed to work in real homes alongside people. Unlike industrial robots that operate in controlled environments, NEO navigates domestic spaces, responds to voice commands, and handles physical tasks without breaking household objects.
The technology challenge is immense: homes are unstructured environments with variable lighting, cluttered surfaces, fragile objects, and unpredictable human behavior. NEO combines computer vision, natural language processing, and whole-body control to operate safely in spaces designed for humans rather than machines.
OpenAI and Samsung are backing the company, signaling that household humanoid robotics is entering a serious investment phase. Europe's contribution is distinctive: while US and Chinese companies focus on industrial and warehouse applications, 1X is tackling the harder problem of domestic environments — where regulatory compliance (EU product safety), cultural acceptance, and human-robot interaction research (strong in Scandinavia) are as important as the hardware.