Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has turned a small open-source robot into the surprise hit of the holiday season. A video of Huang playing with a flock of waddling Microducks during his keynote at Nvidia's GTC Berlin conference went viral earlier this week, and preorders for the robots passed 20,000 units by the next day, according to Hugging Face's Clem Delangue.
The robots stomped their tiny feet, made R2-D2-like noises, sat down, fell over for a "nap" and somersaulted on voice command. Microducks are made by Pollen Robotics, which Hugging Face acquired in 2025, and Hugging Face itself was bought by Nvidia in September. The units are expected to be delivered in time for Christmas.
Microduck robots: specs, training and who makes them
Microducks are open-source devices, Hugging Face's second robot after Reachy Mini. They were trained using Nvidia's technology stack: simulations taught them basic tricks such as walking, sitting and standing, and those tricks ship with the robot.
Owners can train their Microducks with new tricks and then share them with the community, according to Pollen Robotics. That open approach, plus the viral keynote moment, is a big part of the appeal.
Delangue suggested the Microduck could become the best-selling robot of the year, and noted that the promotional videos show adults playing with them as much as children.
- Made by Pollen Robotics, acquired by Hugging Face in 2025
- Hugging Face acquired by Nvidia in September
- Open source, trainable and shareable tricks
