Hugging Face Releases Programmable, Walking Duck Robot

Hugging Face is expanding its push into physical AI, with its new programmable robot shaped like a tiny duck.The open source AI company unveiled the $399 Microduck, a small-scale robot that can be programmed to perform a range of behaviors, including walking, picking up objects and recovering after a fall.The robot was introduced last week by Pollen Robotics, the French company acquired by Hugging Face in 2025.Hugging Face co-founder and CEO Clem Delangue described Microduck on X as a “tiny open source robot” that users can teach new behaviors using reinforcement learning.“Welcome to the era of open source affordable robots to democratize physical AI and world models!” he wrote.The company said the robot can also perform more unusual tasks, including roller-skating.Microduck uses a camera, lidar sensors and two inertial measurement units to perceive and respond to its surroundings, according to its website.Related:Nvidia Targets Physical AI With New Jetson Edge PlatformIts behaviors can be trained in simulation before being deployed directly onto the physical robot, according to Pollen Robotics. Developers can then fine-tune the robot, retrain it and redeploy the resulting behaviors.The robot's SDK, simulation environment and full reinforcement learning training stack are available as open source software on GitHub.The launch builds on Hugging Face's growing push into physical AI. The company is best known for its open source AI platform and community, which hosts models and tools for developers, but its acquisition of Pollen Robotics marked a move into robotics and AI hardware.Microduck marks the company's second consumer robot, following the desktop robot Reachy Mini, released in 2025.About the AuthorContributing WriterScarlett Evans is a freelance writer with a focus on emerging technologies and the minerals industry. Previously, she served as assistant editor at IoT World Today, where she specialized in robotics and smart city technologies. Scarlett also has a background in the mining and resources sector, with experience at Mine Australia, Mine Technology and Power Technology. She joined Informa in April 2022 before transitioning to freelance work.