It looks like many people want a nearly 10-inch-tall (about 25 cm) robotic duck.
On Friday local time, Hugging Face co-founder Thomas Wolf posted on X that consumer orders for Microduck exceeded $2.6 million during its first 24 hours on the market (note: approximately RMB 17.539 million at the current exchange rate). On Thursday, about six hours after the product was announced, Wolf revealed that Microduck preorders had already surpassed $1 million (approximately RMB 6.746 million at the current exchange rate).
Priced at $399 (approximately RMB 2,692 at the current exchange rate), Microduck officially debuted on Thursday local time. It was launched by French robotics company Pollen Robotics, which Hugging Face acquired last year. Pollen Robotics plans to begin delivering the first products around Christmas.
It now appears that Microduck may already have an order backlog.
“The community has ordered a large number of ducks,” reads a red banner at the top of Pollen Robotics’ checkout page. “For new Microduck orders, we can no longer guarantee delivery before Christmas, but we are accelerating production. Orders will ship in the order they are placed. The estimated delivery time for new orders is currently 4 to 6 months.”
Microduck is also part of a broader industry trend of bringing AI out of chatbots and into physical consumer devices, enabling robots to perform tasks far beyond vacuuming.
For now, AI-powered robots remain largely limited to research labs and factory floors. But companies including Tesla and 1X are exploring ways to bring robots into ordinary consumer homes, while Hyundai has even proposed selling robots through car dealerships.
Microduck is Pollen Robotics’ second consumer robot. The company previously launched Reachy Mini, which has a square-headed design. It is a desktop robot that users assemble themselves and program to conduct AI-powered conversations or move its antennae. Both products are primarily aimed at developers and robotics enthusiasts.
Hugging Face says Microduck is also programmable. The robot has two legs and one eye. Unlike its predecessor, which could only remain on a desktop, it can move around on its own.
Once unboxed, Microduck can walk, sit down, stand up, kick a small soccer ball, and pick up small objects with its plastic beak. It can stand back up on its own even after falling. With the separately sold $39 wheel accessory kit (approximately RMB 263.1 at the current exchange rate), it can even glide across the floor.
These actions are only a starting point for further user development. Developers can use a virtual version of Microduck in a physics simulator, train new movements through trial and error, and then transfer the trained behaviors to the physical robot.
For example, on Friday, Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue posted a video on X showing the small robot performing a routine of gymnastics moves trained by a user.
Other videos show the duck picking up small objects such as markers and socks.
After training new movements, developers can export them as ONNX files and deploy them to their own robots. Pollen Robotics says users can also “share the new behaviors you develop with the community.”
Microduck is also equipped with a camera, LiDAR, and two motion sensors, all of which developers can access when writing their own software.
Microduck is powered by a removable, rechargeable battery, with about one hour of runtime depending on how it is used.
One day before the robot was launched, Business Insider reported that chipmaker Nvidia was in talks to acquire Hugging Face. The deal could value the AI startup at more than $13 billion (approximately RMB 87.697 billion at the current exchange rate).