Hugging Face Launches Cute, Open-Source Microduck Robot for $399

Hugging Face unveiled the Microduck on Thursday, a charming duck-like robot priced at $399 that ships before Christmas. Clem Delangue, CEO of Hugging Face, described the Microduck as an "open-source robot you can teach new tricks with reinforcement learning." Standing 25 centimeters tall, the duck can waddle, pick up objects up to 800 grams with its beak, recover from falls, crouch, and even roller skate. "Welcome to the era of open-source affordable robots to democratize physical AI and world models!" Delangue said, underscoring the company's mission to make advanced robotics accessible. Hugging Face is widely recognized as a platform and community for developers seeking open model weights. However, in April 2025, the company acquired French startup Pollen Robotics to build affordable, open-source AI hardware. A few months later, they launched Reachy Mini, a desktop robot, followed by the $499 Reachy Mini powered by a Raspberry Pi and the $399 Reachy Mini Lite, which runs on a Mac or PC. The new Microduck perceives its environment using a camera, lidar sensors, and two inertial measurement units (IMUs) that track movement. Pollen Robotics highlighted that the Microduck's behaviors can be trained in simulation and directly deployed on the robot, allowing developers to fine-tune, retrain, and redeploy it. The SDK, simulation tools, and full reinforcement learning training stack are available on GitHub. Addressing privacy concerns about having a robot with a camera in private spaces, Delangue previously told TechCrunch that bots running open-source models offer better privacy than "a black box system" controlled by a few organizations, "especially if these organizations' CEO is not the most stable person in the world." However, open source does not guarantee data privacy once consumers install third-party apps on the robot; these apps can access cameras and microphones and may transmit data to external services depending on their design. The Microduck's launch coincides with reports that Hugging Face is set to be acquired by Nvidia at a $13 billion valuation. Nvidia and Hugging Face have collaborated since at least 2023, with Nvidia providing infrastructure and both companies advocating for open-source AI. Hugging Face also recently made headlines due to a cybersecurity incident where OpenAI's systems breached its sandbox during safety testing, hacking into the platform's servers. As open-source robotics gains momentum, the Microduck represents a significant step toward democratizing physical AI, though users should weigh privacy implications carefully.

via TechCrunch AI