Hugging Face robot duck preorders hit 20,000 after Nvidia CEO demo

Hugging Face reported that preorders for its Microduck robot surpassed 20,000 units the day after a viral keynote appearance.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang played with a group of the waddling robots during his speech at the GTC Berlin conference earlier this week. The clip showed the devices stomping, falling over, and performing somersaults on voice commands.

Clem Delangue, head of Hugging Face, confirmed the sales figure in a tweet. He stated the robots may become the best-selling unit of the year, with promotional material showing adults interacting with the devices.

Pollen Robotics, which manufactures the Microducks, was acquired by Hugging Face in 2025. Nvidia purchased Hugging Face in September, making the robot a subsidiary of the GPU maker. The Microduck is the second open-source robot developed by the Hugging Face ecosystem, following the Reachy Mini.

The devices were trained on Nvidia's technology stack using simulations to learn basic behaviors like walking and sitting. Pollen Robotics allows owners to teach new tricks and share them with the community. The company expects to deliver the robots in time for Christmas.