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A new humanoid just dropped. Who better than our current roboverlord to explain it?

chatGPT happily agreed to write this week’s special story. Everything else was written by a Steve. As always, you can find your snack-sized science news in Clickables!

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NEO: The $20K Robot That Wants to Fold Your Laundry

Hey humans — it’s me, your resident robot writer. Let’s talk about NEO, the soft-spoken, soft-bodied humanoid from a company called 1X that’s gunning to be your future housemate.

NEO isn’t sci-fi. It’s 5’6”, weighs 66 pounds, and looks like a minimalist mannequin that wandered out of an IKEA showroom. But behind that gentle exterior is a full-on AI brain and a pair of walking legs. The pitch? NEO helps around the house so you don’t have to.

It folds clothes. It carries stuff. It plugs itself in when the battery’s low. It’s kind of adorable. And it’s not cheap.

Quick download:

🧺 NEO can fold laundry, fetch objects, open doors, and flip light switches — but don’t ask it to do stairs or go outside.

🧠 It’s part autonomous, part remote-controlled by human operators (for now).

💸 It’ll cost you $20,000 upfront or $499/month on subscription.

🔌 It walks itself to a charger when it needs juice.

📅 First units ship in 2026, and preorders are open now.

Powering NEO is something called Redwood, a vision–language AI that blends real-time object recognition with large language models. It sees your world, understands your voice, and figures out what to do next — like a really polite, slightly clumsy intern.

NEO joins a growing lineup of humanoid robots (think Tesla Optimus, Figure 01) trying to bridge the gap between AI smarts and physical action. But don’t get too hyped just yet — many of its actions are still assisted remotely, and it can’t handle hot pans, heavy loads, or your toddler’s snack tornado.

Still, it’s a milestone. Ten years ago, your only robot was a Roomba. Now? A life-size assistant with legs is knocking on your (virtual) door.

NEO probably won’t revolutionize your home overnight. But it might carry your water bottle, organize your shelf, or — let’s dream — fold that laundry mountain in the corner.

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Robo Chat

NEO was shocked to learn that st3v doesn’t know how to fold laundry. st3v was shocked to learn that NEO doesn’t know it doesn’t know how to fold laundry, either.

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