Hugging Face Acquires Pollen Robotics: A Leap Towards Open-Source AI-Powered Robotics

Hugging Face buys a humanoid robotics startup | TechCrunch

AI dev platform Hugging Face has acquired Pollen Robotics, a robotics startup based in France, for an undisclosed amount. Wired reports that Hugging Face plans to sell Pollen's humanoid robot, Reachy 2, and let developers download and suggest improvements to its code. Pollen Robotics, which aims to bring affordable humanoid robots to the home, was founded in 2016 by Matthieu Lapeyre and Pierre Rouanet. The company managed to raise €2.5 million (around $2.83 million) from investors including Bpifrance prior to its exit, according to Crunchbase. The acquisition marks an expansion of Hugging Faces' robotics efforts, with which Pollen was closely involved. Last year, Hugging Face teamed up with Pollen to build "Le Robot," and open source robot trained to do a variety of household chores. Hugging Face also established a robotics team led by Remi Cadene, a former robotics engineer from Tesla's Optimus program.

Hugging Face ramps up robot push, buys Pollen to take on China

Pollen Robotics has become a key player in developing humanoid robots for advanced research and real-world applications. Its flagship robot, Reachy 2, is designed as a flexible, user-friendly platform for embodied AI. With features such as human-inspired 7-degree-of-freedom arms, the proprietary Orbita joint system for expressive movement, and a mobile base with Omni wheels and LiDAR, Reachy 2 enables intuitive interaction and agile manipulation. It also supports VR teleoperation, allowing users to remotely control the robot and see through its "eyes" in real-time. Reachy 2 is fully open-source, with hardware designs, software, and documentation available on Hugging Face's platform. It is already in use by research institutions, including Cornell University, Carnegie Mellon University, CNRS, and Accenture, supporting applications in human-robot interaction, machine learning, and dexterous task execution. Pollen has deployed hundreds of units across over 20 covered earned recognition, including second place in the ANA Avatar XPRIZE in 2022. "From the start, we built Pollen Robotics with open source at its core, driven by our belief that robots will play a profound role in our lives -- serving as the interface between AI and the physical world. Hugging Face is a natural home for us to grow, as we share a common goal: putting AI and robotics in the hands of everyone," said Matthieu Lapeyre, co-founder of Pollen Robotics, in a statement.

Hugging Face Acquires Pollen Robotics to Expand Open-Source Robotics Efforts | AIM Media House

"We believe robotics could be the next interface for AI -- and it should be open, affordable, and hackable." Hugging Face, a leader in open-source AI, has announced its acquisition of Pollen Robotics, a French startup specialising in open-source humanoid robots. The move aims to advance the development and accessibility of robotics technology for research, education, and practical applications. Hugging Face, known for its widely used AI platform, has been expanding into robotics under the leadership of Remi Cadene, a former Tesla robotics engineer. The company has positioned itself as a key player in open robotics through its "Le Robot" program and collaboration with Pollen Robotics. "We believe robotics could be the next interface for AI -- and it should be open, affordable, and hackable," Hugging Face said. Founded in 2016 by researchers Matthieu Lapeyre and Pierre Rouanet, Pollen Robotics is recognised for its flagship product, Reachy. The latest version, Reachy 2, is a modular humanoid robot designed for research and education. It features advanced capabilities such as VR teleoperation, stereo vision, spatialised audio, and a bio-inspired design. The robot is already in use at institutions like Cornell University and Carnegie Mellon University. Priced at $70,000, Reachy 2 is available for order via Pollen Robotics' sales team. Lapeyre highlighted the company's mission, saying, "We've always aimed to make robotics and AI accessible to everyone, creating technology that's positive, exciting, playful, and refreshingly simple." "Joining Hugging Face, a company driven by the very same values in the field of AI, feels like an obvious and natural next step. It just makes so much sense to join forces and amplify our shared vision," he added. Hugging Face envisions a future where robotics is democratised through open-source principles. Through its acquisition of Pollen Robotics, the company wants to empower researchers and developers to create customisable robotic solutions free from proprietary constraints. Hugging Face also plans to integrate its AI expertise with Pollen's hardware to further enhance Reachy's capabilities.

Hugging Face acquires Pollen Robotics to democratize AI robotics By Investing.com

Investing.com -- In a move to make robotics more accessible, Hugging Face, a firm that hosts open source artificial intelligence (AI) models and software, has acquired Pollen Robotics, a French startup known for its humanoid robot, Reachy 2. The announcement came today, as Hugging Face plans to sell the robot and also offer developers the opportunity to download, modify and suggest improvements to its code. Hugging Face stated in their announcement that they were delighted to bring open-source robots to the world with this acquisition. Since Remi Cadene joined their team from Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), Hugging Face has become the most widely used software platform for open robotics, largely due to LeRobotHF and the Hugging Face Hub. Teaming up with Pollen Robotics, one of the few companies globally that ships open-source humanoid robots, is seen as a significant step forward. The first robot they plan to offer is Reachy 2, a state-of-the-art humanoid robot that is open-source and VR-compatible. Reachy 2 is already in use in labs such as Cornell and Carnegie Mellon and is built for research, education, and embodied AI experiments. Hugging Face stated that they envision a future where anyone from the community can build and control their own robot companions, rather than relying on closed, expensive black boxes. This acquisition of Pollen Robotics is a step towards making robotics open, affordable, and hackable, and could potentially transform the interface for AI.