SoftBank in Talks to Buy Majority Stake in Humanoid Robot Maker 1X at $6 Billion, Below Last Year's $10 Billion Ask

Masayoshi Son's SoftBank Group is negotiating to take majority control of 1X Technologies, the Norwegian-American humanoid robot maker backed by OpenAI, in a deal that would value the company at approximately $6 billion, according to The Information, which cited people familiar with the talks. Reuters reported it could not independently confirm the details. SoftBank declined to comment, and 1X did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.

The talks are ongoing and the terms could still change, according to The Information's reporting, which every other outlet covering the story, including Reuters, Cryptopolitan, Crypto.news, ANI News, and humanoidsdaily, is relaying from that single original account. No outlet has independently verified the $6 billion figure or the deal's structure.

A Markdown From Last Year's Ask

The $6 billion figure sits below the $10 billion-plus valuation 1X was reportedly seeking last September, when the company tried to raise up to $1 billion, according to humanoidsdaily. That fundraising effort secured less than half its target, The Information reported.

humanoidsdaily flagged an important caveat that other outlets glossed over: a venture fundraising ask and a majority-acquisition price aren't measuring the same thing. Control stakes normally command a premium over a minority primary round, not a discount, which makes the gap between $10 billion and $6 billion more notable, not less, if the comparison holds. Against 1X's last confirmed institutional round, a $100 million Series B raised in January 2024, $6 billion represents a massive markup regardless of how you slice it.

Key terms remain unreported. It's not yet known how large a stake SoftBank would take, whether OpenAI is selling its position, or whether 1X founder Bernt Børnich retains operational control, according to humanoidsdaily.

OpenAI's Long Runway With 1X

OpenAI's relationship with 1X dates back to March 2023, when the OpenAI Startup Fund led a $23.5 million Series A2 round alongside Tiger Global and Norwegian investors including Sandwater, Alliance Ventures, and Skagerak Capital, according to Crypto.news. OpenAI Startup Fund manager Brad Lightcap said at the time that 1X was at the forefront of using robotics to augment labor.

Last year, OpenAI itself discussed acquiring 1X outright, but those talks never turned into a transaction, The Information reported. SoftBank's emerging deal would effectively pick up where OpenAI left off, deepening the web of financial ties between the two AI heavyweights without OpenAI necessarily taking full control.

NEO Still Hasn't Shipped

1X's flagship product is NEO, a home robot priced at $20,000 for early access or $499 a month on subscription, according to Crypto.news. The company took more than 10,000 preorders in the first week after opening them, The Information reported. But as of this reporting, no units have been delivered to any customer. U.S. deliveries are supposed to begin sometime in 2026, with expansion to other markets in 2027.

Any buyer, including SoftBank, has to weigh the gap between promise and product. A $6 billion valuation for a company that has taken tens of thousands of dollars in preorder commitments but shipped zero units to real households is a bet on execution, not results.

Part of a Bigger Robotics Buildout

The 1X talks aren't happening in isolation. SoftBank agreed in October 2025 to buy Swiss engineering group ABB's robotics division for $5.375 billion, giving it full ownership of a new holding company built around that business, according to Crypto.news. Combined with the 1X talks, SoftBank is assembling a serious robotics portfolio on top of its already massive AI infrastructure bets, including a plan announced for up to €75 billion ($87 billion) in French AI data center capacity, according to ANI News, which quoted SoftBank chairman Masayoshi Son saying "AI is entering a new era, and the countries that build the infrastructure for this transformation will shape the future of technology, industry and society."

The humanoid robotics market itself is moving fast and getting crowded. Counterpoint Research reported on August 20 that total humanoid shipments in the first half of 2026 topped 22,000 units, an almost 300% year-over-year jump, according to Cryptopolitan. But that market is dominated by Chinese manufacturers: two companies, AGIBOT and Unitree, accounted for nearly 75% of shipments, and Chinese firms claimed all five top spots. 1X, based in Palo Alto after starting as Halodi Robotics in Moss, Norway, is betting its future on U.S. and Western home markets rather than competing head-on in that Chinese-dominated industrial and commercial segment.

What happens next depends on whether SoftBank and 1X can actually close on terms. Until they do, the size of the stake, OpenAI's role in any resulting ownership structure, and whether Børnich keeps running the company remain open questions nobody involved has answered on the record.