Asimov account claims first-owner shipments this month; Menlo link remains unconfirmed
The @asimovinc account says a product will reach its first owners this month, while Menlo separately lists Asimov 1 as a $20,000 open-source research kit requiring more than 100 hours of assembly. The announcement does not identify the legal entity, product version, shipment count or any completed delivery.
By RuntimeWire Staff · Published
Primary source: Asimov on X
Why it matters
Menlo has documented a $20,000 humanoid kit that demands more than 100 hours of customer assembly, a substantial commitment for research teams comparing open hardware. A completed shipment to outside owners would put its documentation and kit model to a practical test, but the Asimov account has not established that a delivery occurred or that Asimov 1 is the product involved.
The @asimovinc account claimed on August 22, 2026, that Asimov would ship to its first owners this month. "Less than a year ago Asimov did not exist," the account wrote. "This month it ships to its first owners." The post does not name a legal entity, identify a product version, say how many units are involved or confirm that a shipment has been completed.
Public materials connect the Asimov robot project to Menlo Research, founded by husband-and-wife founders Daniel Ong and Nicole Zhu. Menlo's public materials identify Asimov as its open reference hardware, and its Asimov 1 page presents Asimov 1 as the company's humanoid platform. Those materials connect Menlo to the project. They do not identify the legal entity operating @asimovinc or specify which product the August 22 post says will ship.
This robot project is separate from the YC-backed Asimov at tryasimov.ai, a human-movement data company founded by Anshul Verma and Lyem Ningthou. That company collects video and body-motion data for robotics developers; it does not sell the Asimov 1 kit.
Menlo describes Asimov 1 as educational hardware for builders, engineers and researchers. Menlo Research's live Asimov 1 documentation gives an approximate height of 1.2 meters, a weight of 35 kilograms and an assembly estimate exceeding 100 hours. Its Asimov 1 product materials specify 23 actuated degrees of freedom and two passive toe joints, for 25 total degrees of freedom.
Buyers assemble the kit instead of receiving a ready-to-use research platform. Menlo's documentation describes an open-source full-body humanoid whose mechanical design and software allow researchers to repair hardware, replace or customize components, and test control systems.
From robotic legs to a full humanoid
Ong's personal site says he grew up in Singapore, studied computer science at Stanford, served five years as a Singapore police officer and worked around early Ethereum projects before spending a year building a farm in Riverside, California. A public profile of Zhu identifies her as a former Google engineer with mechanical engineering and computer science training from Stanford. Zhu also has a public X account. The available materials do not assign either founder responsibility for specific Asimov design or pricing decisions.
Menlo's Asimov 1 product materials say the company launched the lower-body Asimov 0 on January 27, 2026, and Asimov 1 on April 27, 2026. The Asimov v0 repository and related project materials say the corresponding repositories were open-sourced on those dates. The Asimov v0 repository covers the earlier bipedal legs; the supplied materials describe Asimov 1 as the full humanoid project.
The $20,000 assembly project
Menlo's current product page lists Asimov 1 at $20,000 and says the final price may vary by destination because of tariffs and shipping. The page attributes approximately $11,000 in savings against independently sourced components to bulk pricing on core hardware.
The Asimov v0 repository records an earlier $15,000 target price and a summer 2026 shipping plan. Those were earlier plans. The current product page now lists a $20,000 price, and neither source proves that the August 22 post refers to Asimov 1.
Customers can use the project's published files and bill of materials to source components themselves, according to the Asimov v0 repository. Buying Menlo's kit still leaves the customer responsible for an assembly process the company estimates at more than 100 hours.
Other humanoid projects set different price and labor tradeoffs. Unitree's official G1 page lists the assembled G1 at $13,500, with shipping, applicable taxes, customs duties and import-clearance costs separate. The LeRobot Humanoid project published through Hugging Face estimates about $2,500 in parts for an experimental 3D-printed biped.
Menlo's platform plan
Menlo's handbook describes Asimov as open reference hardware for robot software, developer tools and a planned marketplace for reusable skills. The company says it works with manufacturing partners and envisions independent developers creating software for compatible hardware.
Shipments to outside owners would test that plan because builders would have to complete the long assembly process and use Menlo's documentation away from its workshop. The August 22 post does not establish that any shipment has been completed or that the product involved is Asimov 1. Without a named product or documented delivery, the shipment claim and Menlo's separately documented kit remain related public references rather than a confirmed match.