OpenAI is leading a $23.5M investment

Advances in AI software fluency have been much discussed in recent weeks. Mainly because of ChatGPT from OpenAI, which can write complete cooking recipes on demand.

However, the actual work of going to the fridge or cooking has so far been left to humans. In Google's lab, that was already different recently: "Get me the rice chips from the drawer" was said to a robot, which then searched the kitchen and reached for the bag of chips with a pincer hand, as can be seen in a video that Google and the TU Berlin put online a few days ago.

OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has also now positioned itself in terms of hardware. On Thursday, the company led a $23.5 million funding round for Oslo, Norway-based robotics startup 1X Technologies, formerly Halodi Robotics. The company is working on its humanoid robot Neo, which has already demonstrated its prowess in a demo video: It briskly packs blocks into a box, opens a door and a window. The company employs about 60 people and plans to build distribution of its first commercially available android, Neo EVE, in Norway and North America. It also plans to move forward with building its NEO bipedal android. No launch is planned for the European market so far.

In addition to OpenAI, backers include Tiger Global and a consortium of Norway-based investors, so Microsoft, OpenAI's new shareholder, has indirectly committed to robotics on a large scale for the first time. 1X Technologies' Neo is sure to make use of ChatGPT in the near future.

1XRaise CEO Bernt Øyvind Børnich emphasized the importance of androids to the real world and the need for them to experience our world in order to function. Investors believe in the approach and the impact 1X can have on the future of work.

OpenAI's investment in 1X Technologies again raises the question of when humanoid robots will be available for everyday use. The introduction of ChatGPT has already surprised the AI industry, and there may be a similar surprise in humanoid robots. Such a scenario would likely require a launch between 2025 and 2030. However, the investment by Tiger Global and other investors means that humanoid robots are commercially feasible.

A cutthroat competition seems to be starting in the market. Agility Robotics unveiled its new version of the "Digit" model last week. With increasing use of AI software based on large language models like ChatGPT, additional intelligence will cost much less and scale better.

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, one of the largest in the world, did not participate in the funding round. This is interesting, as it is reminiscent of Germany where little gets done without foreign investors as well.

Incidentally, the NEO EVE robot in the video above differs significantly from the predecessor design by Halodi Robotics (the previous name of 1X Technologies)