When is it actually coming?

Realbotix becomes a public company

The team behind RealDoll — making lifelike silicone humans since the 1990s — emerges as the publicly traded Realbotix, staking the company on emotionally intelligent companions rather than factory labour.

A robot joins the boardroom

Realbotix names Aria a non-executive advisor to its board — a press stunt, but a telling one: the companion as colleague, not just curiosity.

Clone opens Alpha reservations

A radically different bet on realism: 279 reservations for an android built from synthetic muscle and an artificial skeleton, sold on biomechanical fidelity rather than a friendly face.

Aria debuts at CES 2025

A conversational companion with 17 facial motors and interchangeable faces becomes the most talked-about machine in Las Vegas — launched at $175,000 (prices have since come down).

Protoclone twitches to life

Clone's full-body synthetic-muscle prototype, suspended from a frame and kicking in a viral clip, gives the world its first eerie look at a robot built like a body, not a machine.

Figure 02 finishes its BMW pilot

An eleven-month deployment at BMW's Spartanburg plant proves general-purpose humanoids can hold a real production line — handling 90,000+ sheet-metal parts.

1X opens NEO pre-orders

The first consumer home humanoid with an actual price and delivery date: $20,000 outright or $499 a month, with US homes slated for late 2026.

Figure 03 + Helix point the field home

Figure reorients toward the household with Figure 03 and its Helix vision-language-action model — a signal that the home, not just the warehouse, is the prize.

Electric Atlas enters production

Boston Dynamics begins limited commercial production of the all-electric Atlas, with the first units committed to Hyundai and Google DeepMind. The capability ceiling rises again.

CES 2026: companions hold a conversation

Realbotix brings a four-robot lineup to Las Vegas, where Aria carries on a live, unscripted, multilingual conversation with a second robot. The spectacle is the point — and it works.

Aria ships, in tiny numbers

Orders filled in roughly twelve weeks, with about a dozen units delivered by the company's own count. By October 30 Realbotix had stopped listing the F-Series on its site; the Aria persona moved to the cheaper Echo line.

DroidUp reveals Moya in Shanghai

A warm-skinned, female-presenting prototype with a claimed body-temperature surface goes viral. Striking — and, for now, entirely unverified outside the maker's own demo.

UBTech puts a companion on sale at scale

The UWORLD U1 launches in Shenzhen: a silicone-skinned, full-size companion in three trims from ¥119,800 (about $17,650) to ¥990,000, with 13,361 orders claimed on launch day. The first lifelike companion priced like a car rather than a house.

Tesla targets low-volume Optimus production

Tesla aims to begin low-volume Optimus builds at Fremont. Projected, not confirmed — with no external customers announced and limited in-factory use admitted.

What happened: On its Q3 call Tesla said early production had begun on a high-volume Fremont line, with a slow ramp ahead. No volumes and no outside customers.

The US shuts out new foreign-made humanoids

The FCC adds foreign-produced humanoid robots to its Covered List, which blocks equipment authorisation for new models. Machines already authorised are unaffected, but new Chinese-built companions can't get the clearance they'd need to be sold in the US without a waiver.

UBTech says the first U1s have shipped

UBTech says U1 deliveries have started, but it hasn't said how many units went out, and it called a store listing that showed a November date inaccurate. In August it had already cut its 2026 delivery target to 1,500–2,000 units, against 13,361 orders claimed in June.

First NEO home deliveries (targeted)

1X aims to put NEO in its first US homes — initially leaning on remote human teleoperators to fill the gap until onboard autonomy matures.

Realbotix opens Echo reservations

Aria's maker launches a cheaper line: Echo Tabletop at $11,950 and Echo Full Body at $59,950, reserved with a $199 deposit. The first production run is 250 units, with deliveries promised for 2027.

First Echo deliveries (promised)

Realbotix says the first 250 Echo units ship in 2027. A deposit is cheap; delivery is the test.

The uncanny threshold (projection)

Our estimate: the first companions whose faces hold up to sustained eye contact in motion, not just in stills. The hardest mile in the whole race.

Tesla's first outside Optimus customers (targeted)

Musk now expects to start delivering Optimus to companies outside Tesla around the end of 2027, after earlier targets slipped. That's business customers, not households.

Companionship under $10k (projection)

When a credible companion costs less than a used car, the category stops being a curiosity. Echo Tabletop ($11,950) gets close, but it's a bust, not a body. A full companion at that price is still years out, and depends on actuator and skin costs falling hard.