SoftBank is in discussions to acquire a majority stake in 1X Technologies, a humanoid robot developer backed by OpenAI, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal would value the startup at approximately $6 billion, marking a significant move in the Japanese conglomerate's push to expand its robotics portfolio while providing 1X with fresh capital to bring its soft-bodied humanoid robots into everyday households, where they would assist with domestic chores.

Two people with knowledge of the funding round said the 12-year-old startup had previously sought to raise $1 billion at a $10 billion valuation last autumn, but ultimately secured less than half of that target. The negotiations remain ongoing, and the terms of the deal could still shift. The talks underscore sustained market enthusiasm for humanoid robots, despite the high costs and formidable technical hurdles involved in making AI-driven machines that can think, act, and move safely like humans.

SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son, who has long invested in and controlled a number of robot developers, has predicted that the combination of robots and AI with physical hardware will give rise to the next trillion-dollar company. "SoftBank's next frontier is physical AI," Son said last year.

Adding to the investment frenzy, OpenAI itself explored acquiring the robot maker last year, but those discussions ultimately collapsed, according to people familiar with the matter. OpenAI did deliberate internally about developing humanoid robots, but the project was deprioritized in favor of other AI hardware initiatives, including a smart speaker developed with former Apple chief designer Jony Ive. OpenAI acquired a startup founded by Ive last year. Meanwhile, Caitlin Kalinowski, OpenAI's head of robotics, departed in March over concerns about the company's hasty partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense. In June, OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman told a group of Y Combinator-backed startups that he was highly bullish on humanoid robots, citing their potential to accelerate data center construction, according to someone who heard the remarks.

OpenAI invested in 1X in 2023 through its startup fund, which is designed to nurture early-stage companies and grant them access to early versions of OpenAI's large language models.

Son has consistently treated robotics as a cornerstone of the AI-driven era, though some of his earlier bets in the space did not pan out. SoftBank halted production of its Pepper humanoid robot in 2020 and sold 80% of Boston Dynamics, a maker of humanoid robots, robot dogs, and industrial robotic arms, the following year. (SoftBank fully divested its remaining stake in Boston Dynamics in July.) Yet advances in AI have reignited SoftBank's appetite for the sector. In October last year, the company struck a $5.4 billion deal to acquire the robotics division of Swiss automation giant ABB, which produces robotic arms for manufacturing. SoftBank has also invested in Agile Robots, which launched an industrial humanoid robot in November. Tech media outlets have reported that over the past two years, SoftBank has held talks with multiple industrial humanoid robot makers, including Agility Robotics.

As part of Son's robotics strategy, SoftBank has established a new entity called Roze AI, focused on AI and robotics, with plans to take it public later this year or in early next year. Separately, the company is refinancing a bridge loan that supports its investment in OpenAI. Once SoftBank's impending additional $10 billion investment is completed, its total committed capital to OpenAI will reach $65 billion.

For 1X, the $6 billion valuation marks a step down from the price at which its shares were last sold, but represents a substantial jump from the $820 million valuation recorded in January 2025, particularly given the company's currently limited revenue base. The new funding will support 1X's continued development of AI models, which require significant computing resources, and the iteration of its robot hardware. In October last year, 1X opened pre-orders for its Neo humanoid robot with a $20,000 deposit, with deliveries planned for 2026. The company said it received over 10,000 orders in the first week of pre-orders, though it has yet to deliver a single unit to customers. In January, the company unveiled a world model, an AI system designed to predict the next frame in a video sequence, which can be adapted for robot control; this technical approach has drawn widespread attention in the robotics R&D community this year. In July, 1X disclosed details of its five-fingered dexterous hand, which operates via motors embedded in the forearm that pull "tendons" running through the wrist and into the fingers to enable movement.