{"slug": "hugging-face-says-sales-for-its-robot-ducks-topped-2-6-million-in-24-hours-now-s", "title": "Hugging Face says sales for its robot ducks topped $2.6 million in 24 hours. Now there's a backlog.", "summary": "Hugging Face cofounder Thomas Wolf said customers placed more than $2.6 million in orders for the $399 Microduck robot within its first 24 hours on sale, causing a backlog that delays new orders by 4–6 months. The two-legged, programmable robot, made by Pollen Robotics, is part of Hugging Face's push into consumer robotics, following its acquisition of the French company last year.", "body_md": "# Hugging Face says sales for its robot ducks topped $2.6 million in 24 hours. Now there's a backlog.\n\n[Business Insider](https://www.businessinsider.com)\n\nThe future of robotics can waddle. Hugging Face said its bot-maker, Pollen Robotics, recorded over $2.6 million in sales of Microducks in 24 hours.\n\n- Hugging Face appears to have gotten its ducks in a row.\n- Cofounder Thomas Wolf said shoppers are flocking to buy the nearly 10-inch, programmable Microduck.\n- It's the latest attempt by a tech company to develop a consumer-friendly robotics product.\n\nApparently, a lot of people want a nearly 10-inch-tall robot duck.\n\nOn Friday, [Hugging Face](https://www.businessinsider.com/hugging-face-nvidia-deal-reshape-ai-landscape-2026-8) cofounder Thomas Wolf wrote in a post on X that customers placed more than $2.6 million worth of orders for Microduck during its first 24 hours on sale. The update came after Wolf said on Thursday, roughly six hours after the product was announced, that preorders had already topped $1 million.\n\nThe $399 Microduck was unveiled Thursday by Pollen Robotics, the French robotics company Hugging Face acquired last year, with a goal for first deliveries around Christmastime. The companies didn't immediately respond to requests for more information about the orders.\n\nNow, there might be a bit of a backlog.\n\n\"The community ordered a lot of ducks,\" a red banner at the top of the company's checkout page reads. \"We can't promise Christmas delivery for new microduck orders anymore, but we're ramping up production. First ordered, first shipped. Current estimate for new orders: 4—6 months.\"\n\nIt's part of a broader effort to bring AI out of chatbots and into consumer-focused machines that can do more than vacuum floors.\n\nAI-powered robots have so far largely been confined to research labs and factory floors. Now, companies including Tesla and 1X are plotting how robots could make the leap into consumers' homes, while [Hyundai floats the idea of selling robots](https://www.businessinsider.com/hyundai-ceo-humanoid-robot-dealership-boston-dynamics-2026-8) through its car dealerships.\n\nMicroduck is Pollen's second consumer robot, following the square-headed Reachy Mini, an assembly-required desktop robot that users can program to hold AI-powered conversations or wiggle its antennas. Both products are aimed at developers and robotics enthusiasts.\n\nHugging Face says the two-legged, one-eyed Microduck is similarly programmable — but unlike its desktop-dwelling predecessor, it can waddle around. Out of the box, the ducklike bot can walk, sit, stand, kick a tiny soccer ball, and pick up small objects with its plastic mandible. It can also get back on its feet after falling over and, with rollers from a separate $39 accessory pack, skate around.\n\nThose tricks are the starting point that users can build on. Developers can train new movements through trial and error using a virtual Microduck in a physics simulator, then transfer the resulting behavior to the physical robot.\n\nFor example, on Friday, Clément Delangue, CEO of Hugging Face, posted a video of the little bot doing some gymnastics that a user trained.\n\nOther videos show the duck picking up small objects like a marker or a stray sock.\n\nAfter [training](/glossary/training) a new movement, developers can export it as an ONNX file, deploy it on their robot, and, Pollen says, \"share your new behavior with the community.\" The robot also has a camera, lidar, and two motion sensors that developers can access when building their own software.\n\nThe duck runs for around an hour on a removable, rechargeable battery, depending on how it's used.\n\nMicroduck's reportedly successful debut comes at a consequential moment for its parent company. A day before the robot was unveiled, Business Insider reported that chipmaker [Nvidia was in talks to acquire Hugging Face](https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-in-talks-to-buy-hugging-face-13-billion-dollars-2026-8) in a deal that could value the [AI startup](/category/startups) at more than $13 billion.\n\n[Business Insider](https://www.businessinsider.com/hugging-faces-duck-robot-hits-sales-roller-skate-2026-8)\n\nGet AI news in your inbox\n\nDaily digest of what matters in AI.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hugging-face-says-sales-for-its-robot-ducks-topped-2-6-million-in-24-hours-now-s", "canonical_source": "https://www.machinebrief.com/news/hugging-face-says-sales-for-its-robot-ducks-topped-dollar26-adw0", "published_at": "2026-08-28 16:43:14+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-28 21:20:17.241610+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["robotics", "ai-products", "ai-startups"], "entities": ["Hugging Face", "Thomas Wolf", "Pollen Robotics", "Microduck", "Nvidia", "Clément Delangue", "Reachy Mini", "Tesla"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hugging-face-says-sales-for-its-robot-ducks-topped-2-6-million-in-24-hours-now-s", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hugging-face-says-sales-for-its-robot-ducks-topped-2-6-million-in-24-hours-now-s.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hugging-face-says-sales-for-its-robot-ducks-topped-2-6-million-in-24-hours-now-s.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hugging-face-says-sales-for-its-robot-ducks-topped-2-6-million-in-24-hours-now-s.jsonld"}}