Microduck preorders hit 20,000 after Nvidia CEO stage moment

Twenty thousand preorders for the Microduck were logged within one day of Jensen Huang interacting with the robots on stage. Huang demonstrated the devices during his keynote at the Nvidia GTC Berlin conference earlier this week. The video of the event, showing the robots waddling and making noises, spread rapidly across social media.

The timeline of the sales spike began with the conference presentation. The following day, Clem Delangue, the CEO of Hugging Face, announced the preorder total via a tweet. The robots are programmed to perform specific actions on voice command, including sitting, falling down for a simulated nap, and performing somersaults.

Delangue stated that the Microducks are expected to arrive in time for the Christmas holidays. He suggested the devices could become the best-selling robot of the year, noting that promotional materials feature adults using the toys as well as children. This positions the product for a general consumer market rather than just a niche tech audience.

The Microduck is an open source device originally produced by Pollen Robotics. Hugging Face acquired Pollen Robotics in 2025. Nvidia purchased Hugging Face in September, making the robot manufacturer part of the GPU giant’s portfolio. This is the second robot project for Hugging Face, following the Reachy Mini.

Pollen Robotics used Nvidia’s technology stack to train the Microducks. The company simulated the robots to teach them basic commands such as walking, sitting, and standing. Owners can train their own units with new behaviors and share those programs with the broader community.

The robots are set for holiday delivery. The preorder count stood at 20,000 units as of the announcement by Delangue. The devices ship with pre-loaded tricks but allow for user customization through the open source framework.