Hugging Face's Microduck robot reaches 20,000 preorders: price, specs and what it does

Hugging Face's Microduck robot passed 20,000 preorders by the day after Nvidia's GTC Berlin keynote on October 21, 2026, Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue said in a post on X, as TechCrunch reported on October 23. The $399 duck-shaped biped comes from Pollen Robotics, the French robotics startup Hugging Face bought in April 2025, and is due to start shipping before Christmas 2026. It is a small trainable robot, far cheaper than the humanoids in our Unitree G1 price guide.

This story is based on Pollen Robotics' Microduck product page and press kit, the pollen-robotics/microduck GitHub repository, Nvidia's GTC Berlin keynote live blog, Nvidia's September 3, 2026 acquisition announcement and 8-K filing, and reporting by TechCrunch, Axios and Engadget, checked October 25, 2026; Pollen's pages, Nvidia's filing and TechCrunch's report were re-checked October 26.

The short version

• Preorders: "surpassed 20,000 units" the day after the October 21 keynote, per Delangue's X post as reported by TechCrunch. It's one executive's figure for preorders, not shipments.
• Price: $399 before taxes and shipping, an introductory price, per Pollen.
• Shipping: first deliveries targeted before Christmas 2026; launch markets are North America and Europe.
• Open source: the SDK, simulation and reinforcement-learning stack are Apache 2.0. The mechanical and electronic design files are not open source, Pollen says.
• Nvidia: Huang put four Microducks on stage; Nvidia's deal to buy Hugging Face hasn't closed.

Where does the 20,000 preorder figure come from?

From Delangue. TechCrunch's Julie Bort wrote on October 23 that Delangue said in a tweet that by the day after the GTC Berlin keynote, preorders "surpassed 20,000 units." TechCrunch's headline says "20,000 sell," but the figure it cites is preorders. Delangue also said Microduck "might end up being the best-selling robot of the year," TechCrunch reported. Neither Pollen nor Hugging Face has published an order count on its own site.

For scale, Delangue told Axios at launch on August 27 that "50,000 would be a great success," and that the best-selling robots had sold around 20,000 units. That comparison is his. Unitree's founder said on October 22 that about 10,000 to 20,000 G1 humanoids have been produced since 2024, per Chinese outlets, as covered in our G1 story.

What happened at GTC Berlin?

On October 21, 2026, during Huang's keynote, "a flock of four Microducks joined Huang onstage," where they sat, stood and took a nap on cue, according to Nvidia's live blog. Huang told them, "You were created on RTX Spark." Nvidia showed a video of an agent setting up a training course, simulating the robot in Isaac Sim and sending training jobs to the cloud, with the learned policy evaluated on RTX Spark before going to the physical robot. TechCrunch reported they also did somersaults on voice command; the same keynote introduced Nvidia's DSX POD.

Pollen's own repository describes a different default path: policies are trained in a separate microduck_rl repository with the MuJoCo simulator and PPO, then exported to ONNX for the robot to load. Nvidia's demo showed one way to train Microduck behaviors, not a requirement.

Microduck from launch to 20,000 preorders, 2026

1. Aug. 27Preorders open at $399Pollen RoboticsConfirmed
2. Sept. 2Nvidia signs deal to acquire Hugging FaceNvidia 8-KConfirmed
3. Oct. 21Four Microducks on stage at GTC BerlinNvidiaConfirmed
4. Oct. 22Preorders pass 20,000, Delangue saysTechCrunchReported
5. Before ChristmasFirst deliveries targetedPollen RoboticsExpected

• Confirmed
• Reported
• Expected

How much does Microduck cost, and when does it ship?

Pollen lists Microduck at $399 before taxes and shipping and calls it an introductory price. The box includes the robot, a battery, a USB-C cable and a game controller. Optional packs cost $39 (charger and 2 batteries), $119 (dev pack with spare motors and Hugging Face credit) and $39 (accessories such as a laser pointer and rollers).

Pollen's press kit says preorders opened August 27, 2026, first deliveries are targeted before Christmas 2026 and launch markets are North America and Europe. Engadget reported at launch that Hugging Face aims to dispatch its first orders before Christmas "in the US." Pollen hasn't given an exact ship date or a date for other regions. Colors are Cream, Graphite, Lavender and Sky.

What are Microduck's specs?

Last verified: October 26, 2026

Pollen says camera resolution, LiDAR range, radio versions, SDK languages and any age recommendation aren't final. The robot ships able to walk, sit and stand, kick, grab small objects with its beak, roller-skate with skates fitted and get back up after falls.

Is Microduck open source?

The software is; the hardware isn't. Pollen says the SDK, simulation and full RL training stack are open source under Apache 2.0, and the pollen-robotics/microduck repository carries that license. The press kit says the mechanical and electronic design files are not open source, so Microduck shouldn't be called open-source hardware. The simulator is also hosted as a Hugging Face Space, and training can run on Hugging Face Jobs.

Pollen's product page, press kit and repository don't mention LeRobot, Hugging Face's robotics library, so this story doesn't describe Microduck as part of it. TechCrunch calls Microduck Hugging Face's second robot after Reachy Mini, which sells for $499 ($399 for the Lite version).

TechCrunch's August story flagged a privacy point: open-source software doesn't guarantee data stays private once owners install apps that can use the camera and microphones.

Does Nvidia own Hugging Face?

Not yet. Nvidia announced on September 3, 2026 that it had agreed to acquire Hugging Face. Its 8-K says it signed a definitive agreement on September 2 for about $11.9 billion, plus a retention program of up to about $1.0 billion, and that the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals. No closing had been announced as of October 26. TechCrunch's October 23 story says Nvidia "bought" Hugging Face; per the filing, the purchase hasn't closed. Nvidia's broader humanoid push includes Agility's Digit 5, now standardized on Nvidia's IGX Thor.

What's confirmed, reported and uncertain

• Confirmed (Pollen): the $399 introductory price, accessory prices, specs, colors, the before-Christmas delivery target, North America and Europe as launch markets, and the Apache 2.0 software license with closed hardware designs.
• Confirmed (Nvidia): the October 21 GTC Berlin demo with four Microducks; the September 2 agreement to acquire Hugging Face, expected to close in the first half of 2027.
• Reported: the 20,000 preorders, from Delangue's X post as reported by TechCrunch; his "best-selling robot of the year" remark.
• Uncertain: how many preorders turn into deliveries, the exact ship date, availability outside North America and Europe, and final camera and LiDAR specs. As with OpenAI's humanoid plans, consumer robot timelines can move.