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Hugging Face, the $4.5 billion artificial intelligence platform that has become the GitHub of machine learning, announced Tuesday the launch of Reachy Mini, a $299 desktop robot designed to bring AI-powered robotics to millions of developers worldwide. The 11-inch humanoid companion represents the company’s boldest move yet to democratize robotics development and challenge the industry’s traditional closed-source, high-cost model.
The announcement comes as Hugging Face crosses a significant milestone of 10 million AI builders using its platform, with CEO Clément Delangue revealing in an exclusive interview that “more and more of them are building in relation to robotics.” The compact robot, which can sit on any desk next to a laptop, addresses what Delangue calls a fundamental barrier in robotics development: accessibility.
“One of the challenges with robotics is that you know you can’t just build on your laptop. You need to have some sort of robotics partner to help in your building, and most people won’t be able to buy $70,000 robots,” Delangue explained, referring to traditional industrial robotics systems and even newer humanoid robots like Tesla’s Optimus, which is expected to cost $20,000-$30,000.
How a software company is betting big on physical AI robots
Reachy Mini emerges from Hugging Face’s April acquisition of French robotics startup Pollen Robotics, marking the company’s most significant hardware expansion since its founding. The robot represents the first consumer product to integrate natively with the Hugging Face Hub, allowing developers to access thousands of pre-built AI models and share robotics applications through the platform’s “Spaces” feature.
The timing appears deliberate as the AI industry grapples with the next frontier: physical AI. While large language models have dominated the past two years, industry leaders increasingly believe that artificial intelligence will need physical embodiment to achieve human-level capabilities. Goldman Sachs projects the humanoid robotics market could reach $38 billion by 2035, while the World Economic Forum identifies robotics as a critical frontier technology for industrial operations.
“We’re seeing more and more people moving to robotics, which is extremely exciting,” Delangue said. “The idea is to really become the desktop, open-source robot for AI builders.”
Inside the $299 robot that could democratize AI development
Reachy Mini packs sophisticated capabilities into its compact form factor. The robot features six degrees of freedom in its moving head, full body rotation, animated antennas, a wide-angle camera, multiple microphones, and a 5-watt speaker. The wireless version includes a Raspberry Pi 5 computer and battery, making it fully autonomous.
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