Saturday Aug 29
RUMORSOther

SoftBank In Talks To Buy 1X

29AUG
$10B$6BNEOMARKED DOWN

SoftBank may be buying its way into home robots. The Information reports it is in talks for a majority stake in 1X, the OpenAI backed maker of NEO, at $6 billion.

NEO is a $20,000 humanoid for the house. 1X took over 10,000 preorders in its first week, with U.S. deliveries starting this year.

The price tells a story. 1X tried to raise $1 billion at $10 billion last fall and got less than half. $6 billion is a markdown.

For SoftBank this completes a set. It bought ABB's robotics arm for $5.4 billion and backed Gravis. Industrial arms, construction, now the living room.

full brief & sources

⚡ Why this matters

  • Home humanoids have had preorders and demos but no price a buyer would actually pay. This is the first number with a buyer attached.
  • The gap between last year's ask and this year's reported price is the clearest read yet on humanoid sentiment.

🔍 What happened

  • The Information reports SoftBank is in talks for a majority stake in 1X at a $6 billion valuation.
  • 1X makes NEO, a $20,000 home humanoid, with U.S. deliveries starting this year.
  • Over 10,000 preorders landed in the first week after launch.
  • 1X sought $1 billion at a $10 billion valuation last fall and raised less than half of it.
  • SoftBank bought ABB's robotics unit for $5.4 billion and has backed construction robotics firm Gravis.

💬 Smart takes

  • Reuters and The Star both carried the report without independent confirmation from either company.
  • Neither SoftBank nor 1X has commented publicly on the talks.
  • Tech Startups framed the move as SoftBank assembling a full-stack robotics portfolio rather than a single bet.

🧭 Where this goes

  1. LikelySoftBank closes something, though the final number moves from the reported figure.
  2. PossibleOpenAI's stake gets restructured or bought out as part of the deal.
  3. Wild Cardthe talks leak into a competing bid and the price goes back up.

🥄 The Spoon Take

The interesting number is not $6 billion. It is the distance from $10 billion. Home humanoids sold a lot of preorders and a lot of video, and the market still marked them down. Preorders are cheap. A buyer writing a real check is the only signal that counts.

🤔 Pushback

Nothing is signed. SoftBank has walked away from bigger deals, and a report of talks is not a deal. Treat the $6 billion as a data point, not a price.

·SoftBank in talks to buy majority stake in humanoid maker 1X at $6 billion valuation·SoftBank in talks to buy stake in 1X at $6 billion valuation, The Information reports·SoftBank in talks to buy a majority stake in humanoid robot startup 1X