INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Reachy is a modular humanoid platform designed for research
| Credit: Pollen RoboticsIn a decision signaling its move into the physical world, artificial intelligence leader Hugging Face has acquired
French robotics firm Pollen Robotics
The companies yesterday announced the acquisition for an undisclosed amount
The acquisition underscores Hugging Faces ambition to position robots as the next frontier for AI, advocating for an open, accessible, and
customizable future.The driving force behind this push is Hugging Faces burgeoning robotics initiative, spearheaded by former Tesla engineer
The acquisition of Pollen Robotics, founded in 2016 by Matthieu Lapeyre and Pierre Rouanet, brings that companys flagship product, Reachy,
into Hugging Faces portfolio.The modular humanoid robot was designed for research and education
Its latest iteration, Reachy 2, boasts features such as virtual reality (VR) teleoperation, stereo vision, and spatial audio
The $70,000 robot is currently deployed in institutions such as Cornell University and Carnegie Mellon University.I got the opportunity to
interact with Reachy 2 at CES 2025
The platform features a wheeled base, two arms, and pincher-like grippers
The demonstrations at CES 2025 were all run by an onsite operator using a VR headset for telepresence.Register now so you don't miss
out!Hugging Face looks to embodied AIThe Pollen Robotics team is friendly with the open-source community, an aspect of its go-to-market
strategy that likely attracted the attention of Hugging Face
The company added that Reachy 2 is suitable for embodied AI experiments.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
said Matthieu Lapeyre, co-founder of Pollen Robotics
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.Hugging Face
added that its strategic acquisition aims to integrate its AI tools with Reachys sophisticated hardware
This fusion will empower researchers and developers to construct tailored, open-source robotic systems, breaking down the barriers imposed
by proprietary software and hardware, it asserted.The company‘s leaders suggested that this fusion will accelerate innovation in the
field, making advanced robotics more readily available to a wider audience.We believe robotics could be the next frontier unlocked by AI —
and it should be open, affordable, and private, said Thomas Wolf, co-founder and chief scientist at Hugging Face
Our vision: a future where everyone in the community, from hobbyists to enterprises, can build or use robot assistants or games, starting
from open solutions instead of closed, remote-controlled, hardware.The post Hugging Face bridges gap between AI and physical world with
Pollen Robotics acquisition appeared first on The Robot Report.
