Microduck: the robot ducks that upstaged Nvidia's boss, and how to get one in the UK
Checked 24 October 2026
The short answer:
- What they are: Microduck, a 25 cm walking robot duck made by Pollen Robotics, Hugging Face's robotics team in Bordeaux.
- UK price: €340 on the official store, about £285 before tax, or roughly £342 with UK import VAT, plus shipping.
- When: new orders have a 4 to 6 month wait. It will not arrive for Christmas if you order now.
- Where: only from Pollen's official store. It ships to the UK.
What happened on stage
At NVIDIA's GTC Berlin keynote on 21 October 2026, Jensen Huang walked out with four Microducks and started giving them orders. They sat, stood and beeped back at him. Then he asked them to take a nap, and three of them simply tipped over. When he asked for somersaults, only a couple managed it, and one wandered off, tripped and got itself back up while Huang told it to pay attention.
It was the most human moment of a keynote about AI chips, and the clips have been everywhere since. The serious point behind it: Huang said the ducks had been trained in the cloud on Nvidia systems and refined in a digital twin running on an RTX Spark PC, then sent to the real robots. That "train in simulation, run in the real world" idea is exactly what Microduck is built to teach.
Photos: Pollen Robotics press kit.
What Microduck actually does
- Out of the box: walks with a waddle, sits, crouches, picks up small objects with its beak and gets back up after many common falls. It comes with a game controller and seven trained moves, and it can chase a laser dot.
- Its personality: it talks in little creature sounds, not words, and every robot generates its own voice the first time it wakes.
- For tinkerers: Pollen's open-source software lets you train new behaviours in a simulator and send them to the robot. Pollen says thousands of simulated ducks can learn a walking gait in one to two hours.
- Size: 25 cm tall, under 800 g, about an hour per charge from a swappable camera-style battery. Four colours: Cream, Graphite, Lavender and Sky.
| Price (official store) | €340 for UK buyers, US$399 in the US, before shipping and taxes |
|---|---|
| UK cost with import VAT | About £342 plus shipping (our estimate at €1 = £0.84) |
| Wait for new orders | 4 to 6 months (official store, 24 October 2026) |
| Ships to the UK from | Pollen's warehouse in France |
| Motors | 15 |
| Sensors | Front camera, 8x8 LiDAR, two motion sensors, microphones |
| Brain | Rockchip RK3566 with an AI accelerator, 1 GB RAM, 32 GB storage |
| Battery | Removable NP-F550, about 1 hour |
| Extras | Charger Pack €33, Accessory Pack (skate feet and more) €33, Dev Pack €99.99 |
Buying one in the UK: three things to know
- Buy direct. Pollen sells Microduck only through its official store. Resellers have been buying early pre-orders to sell on at a mark-up, so be wary of listings elsewhere, especially any promising delivery before Christmas.
- Budget for import VAT. UK orders ship from France, so 20% import VAT (and any duty) may be collected by the courier on delivery rather than at checkout.
- Order early, pay once. Orders ship in the order they were placed, so the sooner you order, the sooner it arrives.
Want a robot like this before Christmas?
If the 4 to 6 month wait is too long, these small, characterful robots are on sale in the UK now:
| Robot | UK price | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Petoi Bittle X | £313 | A palm-sized robot dog you can code, the closest thing to Microduck's "learn robotics by playing" idea. Price checked 22 October. |
| Loona | £414 | A pet robot with an expressive face that follows you around and plays games. On sale (was £510) at KEYi's UK store, checked 22 October. |
| Reachy Mini | From €350 | Pollen's own desk robot with a moving head and antennae, built for AI apps. Up to 90 days to arrive, so it is a gamble for Christmas. |
More ideas from under £10 to £7,000 in our robot gift guide.
Who makes Microduck?
Pollen Robotics, a robotics company from Bordeaux in France that Hugging Face bought in April 2025. Microduck is its second consumer robot after Reachy Mini, which Pollen says has sold more than 10,000 units. Pre-orders for Microduck opened on 27 August 2026, and demand quickly ran ahead of production, which is why the wait has stretched to months.
Questions people ask
Can you buy a Microduck in the UK?
Yes. Pollen Robotics ships Microduck to the UK from its French warehouse. You order from its official store, and new orders currently have a 4 to 6 month wait, so a Microduck ordered today will not arrive for Christmas 2026.
How much is a Microduck in the UK?
The official store shows €340 to UK buyers (US$399 in the US), before shipping and UK import VAT. That is about £285 before VAT, or roughly £342 once 20% import VAT is added, plus shipping. Import VAT may be collected on delivery.
What are the robot ducks Jensen Huang showed at NVIDIA GTC?
They are Microducks, small two-legged robots made by Pollen Robotics, the Bordeaux robotics team owned by Hugging Face. Jensen Huang brought four of them on stage at NVIDIA GTC Berlin on 21 October 2026 to show how robots can be trained in simulation and then run in the real world. Several fell over when he asked them to nap, which is a big part of why the clip took off.
Can Microduck talk?
No. It understands commands from its game controller and its own built-in behaviours, and it answers with little creature sounds rather than words. Each robot generates its own voice the first time it wakes up. Voice control is something Pollen expects the community to build.
Is Microduck a toy?
It is somewhere between a toy and a robotics kit. It walks, sits, roller-skates, picks things up with its beak and gets back up after falls straight out of the box, with a game controller included. Its real purpose is teaching people to train robot behaviours with AI, using Pollen's open-source software. Pollen has not given an age recommendation yet.
When will Microduck arrive?
Pollen targeted first deliveries before Christmas 2026 for the earliest pre-orders. Demand was so high that the official store now says new orders should expect a 4 to 6 month wait, which means spring 2027 for orders placed now.
Is there a cheaper robot like Microduck I can get before Christmas?
Petoi Bittle X, a small programmable robot dog, and Loona, a pet robot, are both sold in the UK now. Pollen's other desk robot, Reachy Mini, starts at €350 but has a lead time of up to 90 days. See the full list below and our robot gift guide.
Independent and not affiliated with Pollen Robotics, Hugging Face or NVIDIA. Sources: Pollen Robotics store and press kit, Interesting Engineering and The Register on the GTC Berlin keynote, The Next Web and The New Stack on the launch. Exchange rate from BankLive on 24 October 2026. How we check our facts.