Hugging Face, the leading AI development platform, recently announced the acquisition of Pollen Robotics, a French humanoid robotics startup. This marks a strategic move into the robotics sector. While the financial details of the deal remain undisclosed, it has generated significant attention.
Founded in 2016 by engineers Matthieu Lapeyre and Pierre Rouanet, Pollen Robotics' flagship product is Reachy2, an advanced humanoid robot already deployed in top-tier labs such as Cornell University and Carnegie Mellon University. Reachy2 is ideally suited for education, research, and physical AI experimentation. Featuring a 7-degrees-of-freedom robotic arm with a 3kg payload capacity per arm, it also supports virtual reality remote control. Its starting price of €8,990 makes it competitively priced.
Following the acquisition, Hugging Face plans to integrate Reachy2 into its open-source robotics ecosystem. CEO Clément Delangue stated, "Our goal is to empower everyone to build their own robot companions, rather than relying on expensive closed systems." This vision aligns with Hugging Face's 2024 initiative, Project Le Robot, which aims to lower the barrier to entry for AI robot development through open-source toolkits. The project has already attracted over 100 open-source humanoid robot projects.
On a technical level, Hugging Face will open-source Reachy2's codebase, allowing global developers to improve and optimize it. Remi Cadene, an engineer at the company, revealed that by analyzing 50 VR operation videos, Reachy2 has demonstrated the ability to autonomously perform household tasks such as "passing an apple" and "folding clothes." This technological breakthrough stems from the synergistic innovation combining Pollen Robotics' expertise in open-source hardware and Hugging Face's strength in AI models.
Key Highlights:
🌟 Hugging Face acquires Pollen Robotics, officially entering the humanoid robotics market.
🤖 Reachy2 is a humanoid robot with a 7-degrees-of-freedom robotic arm, ideal for education and research.
🔧 Hugging Face will open-source Reachy2's codebase, fostering a community-driven open-source robotics ecosystem.
