Jensen Huang shows off tiny Microduck robots, and preorders jump
Four little walking robot ducks from Pollen Robotics sat, napped and flipped on stage at Nvidia GTC Berlin. Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue says preorders were heading past 20,000.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang brought four Microduck robots on stage during his keynote at Nvidia's GTC Berlin conference this week. TechCrunch reported on October 23, 2026, that a video of the moment went viral.
What happened on stage
Microducks are small walking robots shaped like ducks. In the video, they sat down, flopped over for a "nap" and did a somersault when Huang asked them to. TechCrunch says they did it all on voice command.
Nvidia used the demo to show off its robot-training tools. Robotica Guide, citing Nvidia's keynote recap, says an AI agent trained the ducks in simulation and in the cloud, then checked the results on an Nvidia RTX Spark computer. TechCrunch says that the ducks learned their basic tricks, like walking, sitting and standing, in simulation before they ship. Pollen says owners can teach them new tricks and share those tricks with other owners.
Who makes them
Pollen Robotics makes the Microduck. Hugging Face, the AI company, bought Pollen in 2025. TechCrunch says this is Hugging Face's second robot, after the Reachy Mini.
TechCrunch calls Microducks open source. Robotica Guide, citing Pollen's press kit, reports that the open-source part is the software, not the hardware.
The preorder numbers
On October 22, Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue posted on X that Microduck would probably cross 20,000 total preorders the next day. He credited what he called the Jensen Huang keynote effect. TechCrunch reports that preorders did pass 20,000. Pollen has not published its own count.
Delangue also asked whether that would make Microduck the best-selling robot of 2026. That is his guess, not a sales ranking.
Don't count on it for Christmas
Pollen first aimed to deliver the earliest Microducks before Christmas 2026, and TechCrunch says they are expected in time for the holidays. That target applies to early orders. Robotica Guide reported on October 23 that Pollen's store now says it can't promise Christmas delivery for new orders. It says new orders are expected to take four to six months, and they ship in the order they were placed.
Source: TechCrunch