Bloomberg Originals host and narrator, with 1X founder Bernt Børnich, UC Berkeley professor Ken Goldberg, GXO’s Patrick Kelleher, and other robotics, industry, and labor experts, examines humanoid robots’ potential and the hurdles they face in factories, warehouses, homes, and hospitals.
The program frames humanoids as a costly, still-unproven effort to apply AI to physical work. 1X founder Bernt Børnich says Neo uses images, force, and touch data to produce movement, while investors and technology companies are backing the prospect of robots that can adapt across tasks. The narrator contrasts these ambitions with demonstrations that still rely on human control.
Ken Goldberg explains that language models predict words, while robots must connect visual input to sequences of physical actions. He calls the shortage of recorded robot experience a data gap. Training approaches include simulation, learning from online video, teleoperation, and collecting data as robots work; each has tradeoffs, such as simulation’s limited realism and teleoperation’s slow pace.
At the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, robots compete in events including running, boxing, and football. The program describes China’s government support, large electronics supply chain, and fast, low-cost manufacturing as advantages. It says Chinese firms shipped more humanoids than companies in other countries in 2025, while officials have also warned about a possible bubble.
Experts say worker involvement matters because deployment will affect job quality. GXO’s Patrick Kelleher describes warehouse pilots, including robots working in freezers, but says they can drop or misplace products and need human oversight. Slow movement, short battery life, dexterity challenges, and uncertain returns make many tasks unsuitable for full handoff in the near term.
Factories have defined processes that can be separated from people, while hospitals involve uncertainty and high consequences if a robot makes a mistake. The program presents domestic use and care work as harder tests than controlled industrial settings. Ken Goldberg remains optimistic about research, while urging realistic expectations about timing.
Briefs summarise talks and interviews; timestamps open the video at that moment. Claims in a talk are the speaker's own.
Relentless host interviews Bernt Børnich, founder and CEO of 1X, about scaling humanoid robot manufacturing, learning from deployments, and building generally capable home robots.
Bernt Børnich, CEO of 1X Technologies, explains why the company designed its Neo humanoid for homes and discusses its capabilities, pricing, teleoperation, safety, and path toward autonomy with Wall Street Journal host Joanna Stern.
Bernt Børnich, founder and CEO of 1X, talks with Relentless about designing and bringing humanoid robots into people’s homes.
Bernt Børnich, founder and CEO of 1X, talks with Going Direct’s host about humanoid robots, robot learning, safety, manufacturing and 1X’s plans for Neo.
Peter H. Diamandis talks with 1X Technologies founder and CEO Bernt Børnich and investor Dave Blundin at 1X’s Palo Alto facility about building humanoid robots for homes, learning through real-world use, and the manufacturing and safety challenges ahead.
Bernt Børnich, founder and CEO of 1X Technologies, discusses humanoid robot design, embodied AI, and safety with the RoboBoom host.
