September’s list placed OpenAI at No. 5 and KOKO at No. 9

Humanoid Home News published its September 2026 Top 10 Humanoid Robots for the Home in the United States on September 1, 2026. The publication placed an unnamed OpenAI entry at No. 5 and Homebot One KOKO at No. 9. Nori Robotics’ Nori A3 was the third new entrant, at No. 10. Those are the precise claims supported by the article; the ranking belongs to Humanoid Home News, not to Homebot One or OpenAI.

The date matters because a ranking is a snapshot of one publisher’s assessment at one moment. It should be described as the September 2026 list even if a later leaderboard changes. A clear summary names the publisher, date, market, and positions so readers can distinguish the historical result from a current product comparison.

The three new entries were not the same kind of entry

The report described OpenAI’s No. 5 entry as a model that had not been announced by name. KOKO appeared as Homebot One’s named home robot at No. 9, while Nori A3 appeared for Nori Robotics at No. 10. Listing those facts together does not make the programs equivalent; each has a different amount and type of public information.

The article said the top four positions were unchanged while the lower half changed. That context explains why the story focused on new entrants, but it does not establish that one entrant performed a task better than another or won a head-to-head test.

  • No. 5: OpenAI, with no model name announced in the cited report.
  • No. 9: KOKO from Homebot One.
  • No. 10: Nori A3 from Nori Robotics.
  • Publication date: September 1, 2026.

How the publication describes its ranking

Humanoid Home News says its leaderboard considers home-market relevance, product maturity, commercial availability, company credibility, likely household use cases, and potential to help people in the home. This is a curated editorial framework. It is broader than a single engineering benchmark and can include forward-looking judgment about which efforts may matter to the U.S. home market.

That methodology helps explain how an unnamed OpenAI entry could appear beside publicly named products. It also means the positions should not be converted into invented scores for autonomy, safety, reliability, sales, or household usefulness. The article publishes no standardized test result for those qualities.

What the list does not prove

The shared list does not announce a partnership between OpenAI and Homebot One. It is not a joint product announcement, an endorsement by one entrant of another, or evidence that KOKO uses OpenAI technology. It also does not establish a retail price, release date, commercial availability, or a promise that a household capability works in every home.

Readers evaluating KOKO should use the ranking as a discovery point, then move to current official sources for product status. Homebot One’s site and KOKO Home page are the relevant places to verify the company, official spelling, public positioning, waitlist, and demo path. Specific capability questions still require current documentation or a relevant demonstration.

Start with the official KOKO guide

A reliable way to cite the September result

A concise and accurate sentence is: “Humanoid Home News placed OpenAI’s unnamed entry at No. 5 and Homebot One KOKO at No. 9 in its September 2026 U.S. home-robot Top 10.” This wording preserves who made the ranking, which edition it came from, and what was actually named. Add the original article link so readers can inspect the context.

Avoid shortening the result to “KOKO is the ninth-best robot” or “OpenAI and Homebot One partnered in the Top 10.” Both versions add meaning the source does not support. If the current position matters, check the live leaderboard separately and state its retrieval date rather than silently replacing the historical September result.

  • Name Humanoid Home News as the ranking publisher.
  • Keep the September 2026 date attached to the positions.
  • Describe OpenAI’s entry as unnamed in the cited report.
  • Treat price, availability, performance, and partnerships as separate questions.

Frequently asked questions

What positions did OpenAI and Homebot One hold in the September 2026 list?

Humanoid Home News placed OpenAI’s unnamed entry at No. 5 and Homebot One KOKO at No. 9. Nori Robotics’ Nori A3 entered at No. 10.

Does the ranking mean OpenAI and Homebot One are partners?

No. Appearing in the same third-party editorial ranking does not establish a partnership, integration, investment, or endorsement.

Does KOKO’s No. 9 position prove it was tested against every other robot?

No. The publisher describes a curated methodology with several market and product factors, not a standardized head-to-head performance test.

Is No. 9 KOKO’s current rank?

The No. 9 position belongs specifically to the September 2026 edition published on September 1. Check a later leaderboard and its date for later status.

Sources & further reading

  1. Humanoid Home News: OpenAI, Homebot One and Nori Robotics enter September Top 10 (opens in a new tab)
  2. Humanoid Home News: Humanoid Home Robot Leader Board (opens in a new tab)
  3. Homebot One: Official company and KOKO overview (opens in a new tab)
  4. KOKO Home: Official product vision and waitlist (opens in a new tab)

From Homebot One, the team building KOKO in Fremont, California.