Jensen Huang asked a robot duck for a somersault at GTC Berlin. The duck delivered. By the next day, buyers had preordered more than 20,000 Microducks, according to Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue.
What happened on stage
Huang shared the keynote with a flock of Microducks. They stomped their feet, sat down, played dead for a “nap,” and flipped on voice command. They also chirped like tiny R2-D2s.
Nvidia posted the clip, and it spread fast. Delangue thinks the Microduck could become 2026’s best-selling robot. He doesn’t see kids as the only buyers. Pollen’s promo videos show adults playing with the ducks too.
TechCrunch reports that deliveries should land before Christmas.
Follow the ownership chain
Pollen Robotics builds the Microduck. Hugging Face bought Pollen in 2025. Nvidia bought Hugging Face in September. Nvidia’s technology stack trained the duck’s default tricks in simulation, and then Huang gave the result a keynote slot.
That chain fits a pattern. The same GTC Berlin event launched a shipping-container AI data center that Nvidia says deploys in 14 days instead of six months. Nvidia now sells chips, racks, rooms, and whole facilities. The duck carries that ambition into the living room.
Open source changes the math
The Microduck is open source. Owners can teach it new tricks and share them with other owners.
Think of each shared trick as a tiny app. Each buyer becomes a hobbyist robotics developer. Nvidia has spent years pushing sim-to-real training, where robots learn in virtual worlds first. Thousands of homes running that pipeline would give it a stress test no lab can match.
The preorders prove people want the hardware. They don’t yet prove people want the software layer. The trick library after launch will answer that.
The timing helps Nvidia
AI took a beating in the news this week. A wave of cyberattacks drew blame toward AI systems. Tesla started Optimus production in California while its profit fell 43%.
Industrial humanoids make people ask about jobs and safety. A duck that plays dead makes them smile. Nvidia gets to show off physical AI without the usual anxiety.
What to watch next
- Delivery. Shipping 20,000 units by December tests a young hardware team.
- Adult buyers. Delangue’s bet on grown-up demand needs real sales data.
- The trick catalog. A busy library signals a platform. A thin one signals a novelty.
- Revenue. TechCrunch’s August report put the launch price near $399. At that price, 20,000 preorders add up to about $8 million. That is little money for Nvidia. The strategic value sits elsewhere.
FAQs
Q. What is the Microduck?
It’s a small open-source walking robot from Pollen Robotics, which belongs to Hugging Face.
Q. Who owns Pollen Robotics now?
Hugging Face bought Pollen in 2025. Nvidia acquired Hugging Face in September.
Q. Can owners add new tricks?
Yes. Pollen says owners can train new behaviors and share them with the community.
Q. How did the robot learn its default moves?
Nvidia’s stack trained walking, sitting, and standing in simulation first.
Q. When does it ship?
TechCrunch says deliveries should arrive before Christmas.
Related: The $399 Robot That Exposes the Real Limits of Cheap AI
