The Viral Moment at GTC Berlin The grand finale of the GTC conference in Berlin featured the surprise appearance of four robotic ducks on stage. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang personally controlled them using voice commands. The machines sat, stood, did somersaults, and even kicked a tiny soccer ball. The audience was particularly amused by one duck that, due to a slight processing delay, executed commands with a hilariously laggy response. Footage from the presentation instantly went viral across social media, capturing the attention of not just tech enthusiasts, but the general public as well.
Meet Microduck. It is an open-source robot, standing 25 cm (about 10 inches) tall and weighing less than 1 kg (2.2 lbs). These ducks do not rely on rigid, pre-programmed scripts. Instead, the device is powered by the NVIDIA ecosystem and the Isaac Sim environment: basic movements and balance are trained by AI in a virtual simulation before the skills are deployed to the physical device. Pre-orders for Microduck opened a few weeks ago, with the cute little duck priced at just under $400.
The device’s code is open-source and available on GitHub. Developers can train the duck to perform new tricks through trial and error within the simulator, then export the skill as an ONNX file and share it with the community. Out of the box, the duck can walk and grasp objects, while an optional accessory kit is available to let the robot ice skate.
The success has been staggering. The first batch sold out in a matter of hours, and the total number of pre-orders quickly surpassed 20,000 units.
This massive surge in demand has inevitably led to logistical challenges, which the developers have transparently communicated to buyers:
«The community has ordered too many ducks. We can no longer guarantee that new Microduck orders will be delivered by Christmas, but we are actively scaling up production. Orders are fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis. The current lead time for new orders is 4 to 6 months,» the company stated in an official announcement.
The ducks are the brainchild of Pollen Robotics, a company that has been owned by Hugging Face since 2025. In a related major industry move, NVIDIA recently agreed to acquire Hugging Face itself for $12.93 billion (a deal currently pending regulatory approval).
Image credit: NVIDIA
