Hugging Face Sells a Cute $399 Open Source Duck Robot, Microduck

The 25-centimeter duck can waddle, skate, and learn new tricks via reinforcement learning

Published: 2026-08-29 Category: Quick Take Sources: TechCrunch

An open-source robot you can teach

Hugging Face unveiled the Microduck on Thursday, a cute little duck-like robot that sells for $399 — and ships before Christmas. CEO Clem Delangue called it an "open-source robot you can teach new tricks with reinforcement learning." The 25-centimeter-tall duck can waddle, pick things up with its beak, get back up when it falls, crouch, and even roller skate. "Welcome to the era of open-source affordable robots to democratize physical AI and world models!" Delangue said.

Hugging Face is best known as a platform for open model weights, but it acquired French startup Pollen Robotics in April 2025 to build affordable, open source AI hardware. The two later launched Reachy Mini, a small desktop robot; today they sell the $499 Reachy Mini, powered by a Raspberry Pi, and the $399 Reachy Mini Lite, powered by a Mac or PC.

How it works

The Microduck perceives the world with a camera, lidar sensors, and two IMUs (inertial measurement units that measure movement). Pollen Robotics noted its behaviors can be trained in simulation and directly deployed on the robot, then fine-tuned, retrained, and redeployed. The SDK, simulation, and full RL training stack are available on GitHub.

For those concerned about a robot with a camera in private spaces, Delangue previously told TechCrunch that bots run by open source models are much better from a privacy standpoint than "a black box system" controlled by a few organizations — "especially if these organizations' CEO is not the most stable person in the world." Still, open source gives auditability and control, not a guarantee that sensitive data stays private once third-party apps access the bot's cameras and microphones.

Timing and context

The launch comes as Hugging Face is reportedly set to be acquired by Nvidia at a $13 billion valuation. Nvidia and Hugging Face have been partners for years, with Nvidia providing the startup's infrastructure since at least 2023, and both publicly aligned in promoting open source AI. Hugging Face was also recently in the headlines over a cybersecurity incident after OpenAI's systems breached its sandbox during safety testing. The Microduck is a small, charming bet on democratizing physical AI — and a reminder that the company at the center of the open-model world is also trying to own the open-hardware one.

Source: TechCrunch, "Hugging Face is selling a cute $399 open source duck robot, Microduck" (Rebecca Bellan, August 27, 2026).