Hugging Face Microduck preorders exceed 20,000 after viral keynote moment
The robot gained traction following a demonstration by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at a recent conference in Berlin.
By Pedro Barnes ·
Hugging Face confirmed on Thursday that preorders for the Microduck robot surpassed 20,000 units. The surge in orders followed a video of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang interacting with the devices during his keynote address at the GTC Berlin conference earlier this week. The footage showed the robots performing various actions, including sitting, falling down, and somersaulting on voice command.
Clem Delangue, the head of Hugging Face, stated in a tweet that the preorders had passed the 20,000 mark by the day after the keynote. He suggested the device could become the best-selling robot of the year, noting that promotional material features adults playing with the units as well as children. The company expects to deliver the robots in time for the Christmas season.
The Microduck is an open source device originally produced by Pollen Robotics. Hugging Face acquired Pollen Robotics in 2025. Nvidia subsequently purchased Hugging Face in September. The robots were trained using Nvidia’s technology stack, which involved teaching simulations basic tricks such as walking, sitting, and standing. These pre-programmed behaviors are included in the units shipped to customers.
Pollen Robotics stated that owners can train their specific robots with new tricks and share those commands with the wider community. The Microduck is the second robot product from Hugging Face, following the earlier release of the Reachy Mini. The device makes small sounds described as resembling the character R2-D2 from the Star Wars franchise while moving.
