1X Unveils Paradigm Shift In Humanoid AI: NEO’s Starting to Learn On Its Own

PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 1X is excited to announce the new 1X World Model, a groundbreaking AI update for NEO, marking a major leap forward in humanoid robotics. The new 1X World Model enables NEO to turn any request into an AI capability on demand, using a video model grounded in real-world physics. This marks the first major step toward a future where robots can teach themselves to do anything a human can.

With this update, NEO leverages internet-scale video data fine-tuned on robot data to perform AI tasks, even with objects and environments it has never encountered before. This approach closes the loop between digital intelligence and physical reality, allowing NEO to build on humanity's vast knowledge as captured in video.

“After years of developing our World Model and making NEO’s design as close to human as possible, NEO can now learn from internet-scale video and apply that knowledge directly to the physical world. With the ability to transform any prompt into new actions—even without prior examples—this marks the starting point of NEO’s ability to teach itself to master nearly anything you could think to ask.” 

- Bernt Børnich, CEO and Founder, 1X

The 1X World Model Turns Any Prompt into Autonomous Action
With this update, users give NEO a simple voice or text prompt, and it uses what it’s looking at to generate visualizations of future actions, and a built-in inverse dynamics model then translates these into precise movements for NEO to complete the request.

“With the 1X World Model, you can turn any prompt into a fully autonomous robot action — even with tasks and objects NEO’s never seen before.”

- Daniel Ho, AI Researcher, 1X

Demonstrations in 1X’s latest video showcase NEO's ability to generalize beyond training data. For simple prompts like packing a lunch box, NEO visualizes and executes fluidly, even with unfamiliar objects. More impressively, NEO handles completely novel tasks, such as operating a toilet seat, opening a sliding door, ironing a shirt, brushing a human's hair and more without any prior examples in its dataset. This highlights the transfer of broad human knowledge through the World Model.

The Flywheel Toward Self-Teaching Robots
Where traditional AI models for humanoid robots have depended on data collected by human operators, the 1X World Model enables NEO to collect its own data and master new capabilities autonomously. This paradigm shift opens the door for robots to teach themselves anything—accelerating the path to general-purpose humanoids that learn continuously from experience.

Humanoid AI Capabilities Scaling Alongside Video Models
Where improvement in AI capabilities for humanoids have long been bottlenecked by the speed in which robot data can be collected by human operators, the 1X World Model doesn’t only self improve from NEO collecting it’s own data but benefits from the improvement of video models given the world model uses a video model at its core.

Robust Performance in Dynamic and Unpredictable Environments
Traditional models have historically struggled with changes in lighting, clutter, or chaos that is commonplace in the home. The 1X World Model applies human-like understanding to navigate extreme variability, maintaining composure amid rapid environmental shifts. NEO is now able to generate and execute actions across countless scenarios, a first of its kind development in the humanoid space.

Learn More About the 1X World Model
To learn more, please visit our blog or watch the demonstration video here.

Pricing and Availability
NEO is available via 1X’s online store [1x.tech/order] and comes in three distinct colors (Tan, Gray, Dark Brown). Customers interested in owning one of the first NEOs can purchase Early Access for $20,000, which includes priority delivery in 2026. There will also be a subscription model offering of $499/month.

About 1X
1X is a leading U.S. based AI and robotics company, developing NEO–the home robot. 1X’s mission is to create an abundant future through safe, intelligent humanoids.

Media Contact:
Kendall Pennington
Head of Communications, 1X
Email: press@1x.tech

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fe3770cd-6f5f-4bbc-a0ff-31e6d46e04ec