Nvidia CEO’s duck demo drives 20,000 robot preorders
A viral clip from a keynote in Berlin showed the devices performing tricks, leading to a rush of holiday sales.
By Elijah Fitzgerald ·
More than 20,000 people preordered Microducks one day after a video of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang interacting with the robots went viral. The clip showed Huang playing with a group of the small machines during his keynote at the GTC Berlin conference earlier this week. The robots are designed to waddle, sit, and fall over on command. They also perform somersaults and emit sounds resembling the droid R2-D2.
Clem Delangue of Hugging Face confirmed the preorder number in a tweet. He noted that the devices are expected to arrive in time for Christmas. Delangue believes the Microducks could become the best-selling robot of the year. He also suggested the toys may appeal to adults as much as children. Promotional materials show grown-ups using the devices for play.
The Microducks are open source devices made by Pollen Robotics. Hugging Face acquired Pollen Robotics in 2025. Nvidia purchased Hugging Face in September, making it the parent company of the robot manufacturer. This is the second robot product from Hugging Face, following the earlier release of the Reachy Mini.
The robots were trained using Nvidia’s technology stack. Developers used simulations to teach the devices basic movements like walking, sitting, and standing. These pre-loaded tricks are included in the hardware at launch. Pollen says owners can teach their units new skills. Users can then share these custom tricks with the wider community.
