Hi Hugging Face Acquires Pollen Robotics to Expand Open Source Humanoid Robot Development
- tech360.tv
- 20 hours ago
- 2 min read
Hugging Face has acquired Pollen Robotics, a French company known for its open source humanoid robots, in a move aimed at making robotics more accessible and customisable.
The announcement was made by Hugging Face on X, where the company highlighted its goal of bringing open source robots to the global community.
Pollen Robotics is the maker of Reachy 2, a humanoid robot priced at USD 70,000. While it does not walk, it features a wheeled base or can be fixed in place, and includes robotic arms with seven degrees of freedom and a lifting capacity of 3 kilograms per arm.
Reachy 2 is fully open source, programmable in Python, and can be teleoperated using virtual reality equipment. It is available in multiple models with varying capabilities.
Though Reachy 2 is not yet on par with commercial robots like Tesla’s Optimus or Agility Robotics’ Digit, the acquisition is seen as a strategic step toward democratising access to humanoid robotics.
Hugging Face has already made strides in open robotics through its LeRobotHF platform and Hugging Face Hub. The addition of Pollen Robotics is expected to accelerate development in this area.
The company envisions a future where individuals can build and control their own robot companions using open source tools, potentially even 3D printing them at home.
Hugging Face co-founder and chief scientist Thomas Wolf has expressed interest in making future versions of Reachy fully open source, including downloadable schematics.
The acquisition includes Pollen Robotics’ entire team of about 20 employees, including co-founders Matthieu Lapeyre and Pierre Rouanet.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Hugging Face acquires Pollen Robotics to expand open source humanoid robot development
Pollen’s Reachy 2 robot is programmable, open source, and VR-compatible
Future versions may be 3D printable and fully open source
Source: FORBES