Hottest toy for Christmas? Nvidia CEO plays with adorable Microduck robots, 20,000 sell

These robots are now available for pre-order and are expected to ship for the holidays.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's recent GTC Berlin keynote featured a viral video of him interacting with Microduck robots. These small, waddling robots, which make R2-D2-like noises, can perform tricks such as sitting, falling down for a "nap," and somersaulting on voice command. The public's reaction was overwhelmingly positive, with preorders for the Microducks exceeding 20,000 units by the next day, as reported by Hugging Face's Clem Delangue. These robots are anticipated to be delivered before the Christmas holiday, positioning them as a potential top toy for the season. Microducks are open-source devices developed by Pollen Robotics, a company acquired by Hugging Face in 2025, which itself was acquired by Nvidia in September. The robots were trained using Nvidia's technology stack, with initial tricks simulated and then implemented in the physical robots. Pollen Robotics indicates that users can further train their Microducks with new behaviors and share them with the community.

The rapid sell-through of Microducks, especially following their demonstration by Nvidia's CEO, highlights a significant consumer appetite for interactive, AI-powered robotics that extend beyond traditional toy markets. This popularity suggests a broader trend where sophisticated AI capabilities, previously confined to industrial or research settings, are now being packaged into accessible and entertaining consumer products. The success of Microducks, trained on Nvidia's stack and now part of the Nvidia ecosystem through the Hugging Face acquisition, also underscores the company's strategy to embed its AI technology across diverse applications, from high-performance computing to consumer robotics.

The open-source nature of Microducks, allowing users to train and share new tricks, fosters a community-driven ecosystem that could accelerate innovation and expand the robots' utility. This approach mirrors successful open-source software models and could position Nvidia and Hugging Face at the forefront of a new wave of customizable robotic companions. The implications extend to the broader AI hardware market, as the demand for consumer-friendly robotics indicates a potential lucrative new segment for chip manufacturers like Nvidia, pushing the boundaries of what AI can achieve in everyday life.