1X Technologies has revealed the full details of its NEO Factory in Hayward, California — a 58,000-square-foot facility already in production and designed to serve as the industrial core of the company's humanoid robot business. According to the company, a second site in San Carlos will bring combined annual output to 100,000 units before the end of 2027.
A Factory Built in Three Months
According to 1X's official manufacturing update, the Hayward plant became operational within three months of its decision to build. Current capacity stands at 10,000 units per year — a figure the company says is already sold out, with its initial preorder allocation reportedly clearing in five days.
The planned San Carlos facility will expand that capacity fourfold, putting 1X on track for its stated target of 100,000 humanoids annually by end of 2027.
The Vertical Integration Bet
CEO Bernt Børnich framed the strategy plainly: "Production makes prototypes look easy. So we built the machine that builds the machines."
At Hayward, 1X controls nearly the entire manufacturing stack. The Revo2 motor is wound and fabricated entirely on-site from raw copper spools and steel. The company states that over 17,000 of these motors have been produced. Parallel production lines handle 22-degree-of-freedom hands, including polymer molding for the robot's outer layer and integration of a tactile sensing array.
This approach deliberately insulates 1X from external supply chain disruptions and allows tighter cost control. It is a strategy shared in some respects by Tesla with Tesla Optimus, though the two companies differ in target markets, robot architecture, and scale of investment.
NEO Cortex: On-Board AI with NVIDIA Jetson Thor
The NEO's central processing unit — branded NEO Cortex — is built around the NVIDIA Jetson Thor SoC. This allows the robot to run perception, safety functions, and AI reasoning locally, without relying on cloud connectivity during operation. The sensor suite includes dual 8.85 MP stereo fisheye cameras operating at 90 Hz and beam-forming microphones for directional audio.
The hardware platform runs 1X's proprietary "1X World Models" — responsible for motion planning and environment interaction.
Robots on the Factory Floor
A portion of NEO units already produced are now working inside the Hayward plant itself, handling internal logistics and stocking assembly stations. The arrangement provides real-world training data while demonstrating operational use before consumer delivery. The approach draws a comparison with rival Figure AI, which recently announced a throughput milestone of one robot per hour. Both companies are converging on a "robots building robots" model — though with distinct hardware philosophies and AI architectures.
Consumer deliveries remain scheduled for 2026, but 1X has confirmed that current production output is going to an internal employee home-testing program. This phase is intended to surface edge cases in domestic environments before the product reaches paying customers.
Why This Matters
The Hayward factory represents one of the clearest examples yet of a consumer humanoid company — not an industrial robotics firm — building manufacturing infrastructure at four-digit annual scale. The segment has historically been dominated by prototypes, demos, and ambiguous production timelines. Industrial players like ABB Robotics set the benchmark. Consumer humanoids are now attempting to match it.
1X's vertical integration strategy, combined with a retail price point of $20,000 per unit, signals a bet that controlling the manufacturing stack will allow viable margins without dependence on component suppliers. The decision to prioritize internal testing before customer fulfillment suggests the company is aware of the significant gap between factory environments and real domestic conditions.
The 100,000-unit target for 2027 remains a declared goal, not a confirmed roadmap milestone. Its credibility will be tested once consumer shipments begin in 2026.
What's Next?
Consumer deliveries expected in 2026 — pending completion of the internal home-testing phase. San Carlos facility opening will be a key milestone toward the 100,000-unit annual target. Ongoing development of the 1X World Model integrated with the NEO Cortex platform.
Sources
- 1X Technologies — NEO Factory official update — https://www.1x.tech/discover/neo-factory
- Humanoids Daily — 1X Goes Vertical: Inside the Hayward Factory Aiming for 100,000 Humanoids — https://www.humanoidsdaily.com/news/1x-goes-vertical-inside-the-hayward-factory-aiming-for-100-000-humanoids
