{
  "id": 3816933,
  "title": "Hugging Face offers $399 robot duck to help you quack the AI code",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/hugging-face-offers-399-robot-duck-to-help-you-quack-the-ai-code",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-08-27T16:25:07.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Register Science",
    "slug": "the-register-science",
    "url": "https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/08/27/hugging-face-offers-399-robot-duck-to-help-you-quack-the-ai-code/5293011"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Hugging Face subsidiary Pollen Robotics has introduced a new robot duck called Microduck, priced at $399. This tiny robot, measuring 25 cm tall and weighing around 800 grams, is designed to make building AI on real hardware accessible. Microduck comes with a comprehensive software stack that covers robot control, simulation, reinforcement learning training, and sim-to-real deployment. Although the hardware isn't open source, the software stack is, and Pollen encourages users to share skills. The robot can perform tasks such as picking up socks and markers, roller skating, and following a laser pointer. Pollen aims for Microduck to be used for both practical and fun purposes, such as autonomous behaviors like voice recognition and navigation. The company hopes the community will contribute to developing these capabilities, which might include voice recognition and navigation. Microduck is expected to ship before Christmas 2026, but it's unclear how the recent acquisition of Pollen Robotics by Nvidia for around $13 billion will impact this robot's development.",
  "summary": "Microduck from Pollen Robotics runs on open source software, is just 25cm tall, and is ready to play out of the box",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 7,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Fortune",
        "title": "Nvidia agrees to buy Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, reports",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/nvidia-agrees-to-buy-hugging-face-for-12-9-billion-reports",
        "published": "2026-08-27T11:05:22.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Quartz",
        "title": "Nvidia is reportedly agreeing to buy open-source AI hub Hugging Face for $12.9 billion",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/nvidia-is-reportedly-agreeing-to-buy-open-source-ai-hub-hugging-face",
        "published": "2026-08-27T11:20:39.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "TechCrunch",
        "title": "Hugging Face is selling a cute $399 open-source duck robot, Microduck",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/hugging-face-is-selling-a-cute-399-open-source-duck-robot-microduck",
        "published": "2026-08-27T14:56:52.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Register",
        "title": "Hugging Face offers $399 robot duck to help you quack the AI code",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/hugging-face-offers-399-robot-duck-to-help-you-quack-the-ai-code-3820909",
        "published": "2026-08-27T16:25:07.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Mashable",
        "title": "Hugging Face launches Microduck, a $399 open-source robot duck",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/hugging-face-launches-microduck-a-399-open-source-robot-duck",
        "published": "2026-08-27T17:11:13.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "SiliconANGLE",
        "title": "Nvidia reportedly acquires AI project hosting platform Hugging Face for $12.9B",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/nvidia-reportedly-acquires-ai-project-hosting-platform-hugging-face",
        "published": "2026-08-27T20:14:11.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}