Analysis
SoftBank is in talks to acquire a majority stake in 1X Technologies, an OpenAI-backed humanoid robot maker, at a valuation of roughly $6 billion, The Information reported. Reuters could not independently confirm the report, and neither SoftBank nor 1X responded to requests for comment -- the terms and even whether a deal closes remain unsettled.
1X, founded in Norway and previously known as Halodi Robotics, builds humanoid robots aimed at both industrial and eventually home-assistance use cases, and has drawn backing that includes OpenAI's startup fund -- giving it a direct tie to the frontier AI lab whose models increasingly power the reasoning layer inside humanoid platforms industry-wide.
- 1X Technologies -- Norwegian-founded humanoid robot maker, OpenAI-backed, reportedly valued at $6B in SoftBank talks
- SoftBank -- pursuing majority control rather than a minority venture check, a meaningfully different posture than most of its recent robotics bets
- Boston Dynamics -- SoftBank sold its remaining stake to Hyundai for $325 million earlier this summer, exiting a company it once controlled outright
- Skild AI, ABB Robotics -- other 2026 SoftBank robotics moves: a $1.4 billion anchor Series C in Skild AI's foundation-model business, and a $5.4 billion purchase of ABB's robotics division
“Pulse has covered SoftBank's earlier Boston Dynamics exit to Hyundai as part of this same broader robotics repositioning.”
A Buy-and-Sell Pattern Worth Naming
The sequence is notable on its own terms: SoftBank sold out of Boston Dynamics, the humanoid pioneer it controlled for years, at the same time it's assembling a new robotics portfolio spanning foundation models (Skild AI), industrial robotics manufacturing (ABB) and now, potentially, humanoid hardware directly (1X) at majority-control terms rather than minority stakes. That's a different playbook than SoftBank's Vision Fund-era approach of writing large minority checks into many companies -- majority ownership gives Son direct operational control over how 1X's technology and roadmap get deployed, at the cost of taking on the company's execution risk directly rather than diversifying across a portfolio.
Pulse has covered SoftBank's earlier Boston Dynamics exit to Hyundai as part of this same broader robotics repositioning.
The Counterweight
A reported $6 billion talks valuation is not a signed deal, and SoftBank has a documented history of pursuing robotics and AI acquisitions that stall, restructure, or close at different terms than initially reported -- the Boston Dynamics sale itself went through multiple ownership changes over a decade before landing with Hyundai. 1X, like every humanoid robotics company currently raising at multi-billion-dollar marks, has not disclosed commercial revenue or a shipping product at meaningful scale that would independently justify the number.
What to Watch
The open question is whether SoftBank's appetite for majority robotics stakes, rather than minority venture bets, signals it plans to consolidate several of its robotics holdings -- Skild AI's foundation models, ABB's manufacturing base, and potentially 1X's hardware -- into something closer to a single vertically integrated robotics conglomerate, a structure no other major tech investor has attempted at this scale.
A confirmed deal would also be a data point on price:
- 1X -- reportedly $6B, with no disclosed commercial revenue
- Physical Intelligence -- commanding $11B-$14B in recent marks
- Skild AI -- also priced in that $11B-$14B range
The gap suggests SoftBank sees 1X as earlier-stage or less proven than those peers even as it moves for majority control rather than a smaller venture check.
