Earlier this week, a video featuring Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang playing with a flock of waddling Microducks during his keynote speech at the GTC Berlin conference went viral. These robots, which make tiny R2-D2-like noises, sit, fall over for a nap, and perform summersaults on voice command, quickly won over audiences. Their undeniable cuteness led to over 20,000 units being pre-ordered within a single day, as reported by Hugging Face’s Clem Delangue via Twitter.
Scheduled for delivery just in time for Christmas, these robots appear poised to become the season's most sought-after toy. Clem Delangue predicts that the Microducks could become the best-selling robot of the year, potentially appealing to adults just as much as children, as seen in the promotional videos.
The Microducks are open-source hardware produced by Pollen Robotics, which was acquired by Hugging Face in 2025, placing them under Nvidia’s ownership following the GPU giant's acquisition of Hugging Face in September. This marks Hugging Face’s second venture into robotics, following the also-cute Reachy Mini.
These robots were trained using Nvidia’s technology stack, utilizing simulations to teach them basic tricks such as walking, sitting, and standing before they ship. Pollen Robotics enables users to train their own robots with new behaviors and share these innovations with the broader community.
View the video below to enjoy a moment of levity following the week's grim headlines regarding cyberattacks linked to artificial intelligence. While the industry faces serious challenges, technology can also provide entertainment. It is difficult to resist the urge to order one of these delightful robots after watching them in action.
When Jensen Huang requests a somersault, the robot delivers. You can see how AI agents on NVIDIA RTX Spark facilitate bringing Hugging Face’s Microducks from simulation to the real world in the video below.
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