## Is SoftBank Buying a Majority Stake in 1X Technologies at $6 Billion?

SoftBank is in active negotiations to acquire a majority stake in [1X Technologies](https://humanoidintel.ai/companies/1x-technologies) at approximately a $6 billion valuation — roughly 40% below the $10 billion the OpenAI-backed humanoid maker targeted when it tried to raise $1 billion last year, according to reporting by The Information on August 27. That fundraise fell short, with 1X raising less than half its target. The revised price is the most honest signal the market has sent about where humanoid robotics valuations actually stand in mid-2026: real demand exists, but it doesn't come free of scrutiny.

The deal, if completed, would hand Masayoshi Son's firm operational control — not just a passive minority position — over the company behind the NEO home robot. NEO opened preorders on October 28, 2025, priced at $20,000 outright or $499 per month on subscription, with a $200 deposit. According to 1X, its entire first-year production capacity of 10,000 units sold out in five days. On April 30, 1X announced its NEO Factory in Hayward, California — a 58,000-square-foot facility employing more than 200 people — had begun full-scale production. The talks have not been finalized and terms could still change.

---

## What the $4 Billion Haircut Actually Means

A $6 billion valuation after seeking $10 billion is not a rounding error. It reflects a structural recalibration that any investor in the humanoid space should understand clearly.

Last fall, 1X went to market on the strength of its NEO concept, its OpenAI Startup Fund backing (which led a $23.5 million round in 2023, alongside Tiger Global and Norwegian investors), and the general category heat around home humanoids. It raised less than half its target. That shortfall did not kill the company — it produced a factory, a preorder sellout, and ultimately a suitor willing to write a very large check. But it did compress the multiple.

The valuation discount also reflects something sector-wide. Investors who allocated aggressively to humanoid startups in 2024 and early 2025 on the assumption that sim-to-real transfer and [physical AI](https://humanoidintel.ai/glossary/physical-ai) breakthroughs would compress timelines are now applying harder scrutiny to the gap between demo performance and manufacturable, shippable product. 1X has closed more of that gap than most — it has a real factory and real preorders — but "less than half your target raise" is the market's verdict on where it stood six months ago.

SoftBank buying control rather than taking a minority position is the tell. A minority check is a hedge. A majority stake is a thesis. Son is betting that the combination of 1X's home humanoid roadmap, its existing consumer demand signal, and SoftBank's capital and operational reach can bridge the distance from 10,000 preorders to 100,000 annual units — the latter being 1X's stated target for end of 2027, contingent on automation improvements and a second facility in San Carlos coming online.

---

## The NEO Preorder Math: Demand Signal or Deposit Queue?

Five days to sell out 10,000 units at $20,000 each — or $499 monthly — is a genuine data point. It is not, however, proof of a delivered product at scale.

NEO is marketed for household [loco-manipulation](https://humanoidintel.ai/glossary/loco-manipulation) tasks: stowing dishes, assisting with laundry, fetching objects, responding to voice commands. For more complex tasks, 1X offers what it calls Expert Mode — a scheduled session where a human operator guides the robot remotely, simultaneously generating training data. That hybrid model is intellectually honest about current AI capability limits, and it's a reasonable way to bootstrap [imitation learning](https://humanoidintel.ai/glossary/imitation-learning) pipelines at consumer scale. But it also means NEO is not yet a fully autonomous home robot. It is a teleoperation-augmented system with autonomous ambitions.

Converting 10,000 deposits into 10,000 delivered, functioning robots — in real homes, with real people, pets, and the full chaos of domestic environments — is categorically harder than filling a preorder queue. Hardware reliability, safety certification, over-the-air update infrastructure, customer support for a $20,000 appliance: none of that appears in a five-day sellout announcement.

This is not a knock on 1X specifically. It is the universal challenge for every humanoid maker attempting to exit the controlled-environment phase. The Hayward factory's April production ramp is meaningful progress. Whether the units rolling off that line perform to consumer expectations in year one will determine whether the $6 billion valuation looks prescient or optimistic by 2027.

---

## SoftBank's Robotics Stack Is Taking Shape

Stack the reported deals together and SoftBank's strategy becomes legible. The group agreed in October 2025 to acquire ABB's robotics business for $5.375 billion — a transaction expected to close in mid-to-late 2026, per the source. It separately invested $200 million in Gravis Robotics, the ETH Zurich spinout building autonomous systems for construction machinery. And now it is pursuing majority control of the leading consumer-facing humanoid company in the Western market.

Factory automation (ABB), construction autonomy (Gravis), home humanoids (1X): these are not overlapping bets. They are adjacent layers of the physical AI stack, each targeting a different deployment environment where embodied intelligence has to work without a controlled setting. Son is not building a venture portfolio here. He is attempting vertical coverage of the physical-world robotics transition — with control positions, not passive exposure.

That ambition carries its own risks. Integration across these assets is non-trivial. ABB's robotics business has decades of industrial customer relationships and a very different sales motion than a $499/month consumer subscription. Gravis operates in construction, where procurement cycles and liability frameworks bear no resemblance to consumer electronics. And 1X's home robot faces the hardest deployment environment of all: unstructured, unpredictable, and occupied by humans who will not tolerate failure modes that a factory floor might absorb.

---

## Industry Trajectory: What This Deal Signals

The most important signal from the SoftBank-1X negotiations is not the dollar figure — it is the deal structure. Majority control of a humanoid company, rather than a minority investment, is a statement that the era of placing small bets across the category is ending for the largest capital allocators. SoftBank wants to own the outcome, not just participate in it.

That has downstream implications for every other well-capitalized humanoid startup currently in fundraising mode. When the largest check-writer in the space moves toward control positions, it compresses the field of potential lead investors for competitors and raises the bar for what constitutes a fundable company versus an acqui-hire candidate.

The $6 billion number also sets a public reference point. Any humanoid startup now pitching a valuation significantly above that figure needs to explain, specifically, what it has that 1X — with a sold-out first production run, an operational factory, OpenAI backing, and a real consumer product — does not.

---

## Key Takeaways

- **SoftBank is in talks to acquire a majority stake in 1X Technologies at approximately $6 billion** — a figure The Information reported on August 27, 2026, sourced to negotiations that have not yet been finalized.
- **The $6 billion figure represents a roughly 40% discount** to the $10 billion valuation 1X sought during a fundraise last year that fell short of its $1 billion target.
- **NEO's 10,000-unit first-year production run sold out in five days** following an October 28, 2025 preorder launch at $20,000 outright or $499/month on subscription.
- **1X's Hayward factory began full-scale production on April 30**, with the 58,000-square-foot facility employing more than 200 people and targeting capacity expansion to more than 100,000 units annually by end of 2027.
- **SoftBank's robotics position now spans** industrial automation (ABB deal), construction autonomy (Gravis Robotics), and consumer humanoids (1X) — representing a control-oriented, not passive, strategy.
- **The deal has not been finalized**; terms could still change.
- **Preorder sellout ≠ delivered product.** The real test begins when NEO reaches customer homes at scale.

---

## Frequently Asked Questions

**What valuation is SoftBank offering for 1X Technologies?**
According to reporting by The Information on August 27, 2026, SoftBank is negotiating to acquire a majority stake in 1X Technologies at approximately $6 billion. That compares to the $10 billion valuation 1X sought during a fundraise last year.

**What is 1X Technologies' NEO robot, and what does it do?**
NEO is a home humanoid robot developed by 1X Technologies. It is marketed for household tasks including putting away dishes, assisting with laundry, fetching items, and responding to voice commands. For more complex tasks, the company offers a scheduled "Expert Mode" in which a human operator remotely guides the robot. NEO was priced at $20,000 to purchase outright or $499 per month on a subscription model.

**Why is the 1X valuation lower than what it sought last year?**
1X tried to raise $1 billion at a $10 billion valuation last year and raised less than half of its target, according to The Information. The $6 billion figure in current SoftBank talks reflects market skepticism about translating preorder demand into delivered, scaled product — a challenge every consumer humanoid maker faces regardless of its lab results.

**How does this deal fit SoftBank's broader robotics strategy?**
SoftBank has separately agreed to acquire ABB's robotics business for $5.375 billion and invested $200 million in Gravis Robotics. Adding majority control of 1X would give SoftBank positions spanning factory automation, construction autonomy, and home humanoids — suggesting a strategy built around control of physical AI deployment across multiple environments, not passive minority exposure.

**Has the SoftBank–1X deal been finalized?**
No. As of The Information's August 27 report, the talks are ongoing and terms could still change. No closing date has been announced.

**What is 1X's production capacity for NEO?**
1X's factory in Hayward, California — a 58,000-square-foot facility that began full-scale production on April 30 — is designed to produce 10,000 NEO units annually at initial capacity. The company has stated a target of more than 100,000 units per year by end of 2027, contingent on automation improvements and the addition of a second facility in San Carlos.