I walked into this factory expecting to be impressed by the robots. What I wasn't expecting was to find one quietly sorting parts in the corner of the same building where it was made.
This is the 1X factory in Hayward, California where Neo, a humanoid robot designed to live in your home, is built from scratch. Raw aluminum blocks go in the back. A walking, learning robot comes out the front. In under a month.
Inside with Bernt Børnich, Founder and CEO of 1X, and Vikram, Head of Manufacturing and Supply Chain, we go deep on the engineering decisions most people aren't talking about. Why they build every motor, every battery pack, every metal part themselves. Why Neo uses tendons instead of gears and why that single decision changes everything about how safe it is to be around people. And what Bernt actually thinks happens in the next 10 years.
Spoiler: it's bigger than most people are ready for.
00:00 Inside the 1X Robotics Factory
00:31 Why 1X Builds Everything In House
01:23 How Iteration Speed Beats the Competition
01:53 Tendon Drive vs Gear Drive Explained
03:23 How 1X Makes Neo Safe Around Humans
04:25 How a Humanoid Robot Gets Built in 30 Days
05:19 Inside 1X Machine Shop Precision Manufacturing
06:15 How 1X Stress Tests Neo Robot Joints
07:20 Neo Robot Memory and the Future of Abundance
09:37 When Does Neo Ship and What's Next for 1X