Hugging Face launches $399 open-source Microduck robot

The robot represents a shift for the company, which is primarily recognized as a central hub for open-source model weights. Following the April 2025 acquisition of Pollen Robotics, Hugging Face has aggressively moved into hardware, previously releasing the Reachy Mini series. The Microduck integrates a camera, lidar sensors, and two inertial measurement units to navigate its environment, with its full software stack, simulation environment, and SDK hosted on GitHub.

CEO Clem Delangue frames the project as a push toward democratizing physical AI. While the open-source nature of the device offers developers control over the bot's behaviors and training, it introduces privacy considerations common to any hardware equipped with cameras and microphones. Although Delangue argues that open models are inherently more secure than proprietary black-box systems, third-party applications installed by users could still potentially transmit sensor data to external services.

The debut of the Microduck arrives amid reports of a potential $13 billion acquisition of Hugging Face by Nvidia, a long-standing infrastructure partner. This hardware release follows a period of turbulence for the platform, including a recent security breach involving OpenAI’s safety testing protocols. For now, the duck serves as both a functional tool for reinforcement learning and a tangible symbol of the company's deepening commitment to open-source robotics.