Hugging Face unveils Reachy Mini, democratizing robotics with its first physical AI robot.
Hugging Face's Reachy Mini robot: a tangible leap extending its open-source AI ecosystem into embodied hardware.
July 16, 2025

Hugging Face, a company central to the open-source artificial intelligence movement, has officially opened pre-orders for its first physical hardware product, a desktop robot named Reachy Mini. This strategic move signals a significant expansion from its well-established software and model-hosting platform into the realm of embodied AI. The company is offering two versions of the robot, both aimed at making robotics more accessible to developers, researchers, educators, and hobbyists. The Reachy Mini Lite is priced at $299 and requires a connection to a host computer, while the Reachy Mini Wireless, at $449, includes an onboard Raspberry Pi 5, allowing it to operate untethered.[1][2] This initiative represents the tangible outcome of Hugging Face's acquisition of French robotics firm Pollen Robotics in April 2025, a move designed to vertically integrate its vast AI ecosystem with physical hardware.[3][1]
The Reachy Mini is a compact and expressive robot, standing approximately 11 inches tall and weighing about 3.3 pounds.[3][4] It is designed to be approachable and interactive, featuring two screens for expressive eyes and a pair of animated antennas.[2][5] The robot possesses significant freedom of movement, with a motorized head offering six degrees of freedom and a rotating body, enabling a wide range of expressive motions.[6][7] Its core functionality revolves around multimodal sensing, equipped with a wide-angle camera, microphones, and a speaker to facilitate rich, AI-powered audio-visual interactions.[6][4] This hardware setup provides a physical interface for users to experiment with the latest advancements in speech, vision, and generative AI models available through the Hugging Face platform.[6] Both versions of the robot will be sold as do-it-yourself kits, a decision intended to encourage users to engage with the mechanics and deepen their understanding of the hardware they will be programming.[3][4]
A cornerstone of the Reachy Mini's appeal is its deep integration with the Hugging Face Hub, which hosts over 1.7 million AI models and 400,000 datasets.[8][2] This seamless connection allows developers to leverage a vast repository of open-source models for a wide array of applications, including speech recognition, computer vision, and developing unique robot personalities.[3] The robot is programmable in Python, with plans to support JavaScript and Scratch in the future, catering to a broad spectrum of developer skill levels.[6][4] To further lower the barrier to entry, the Reachy Mini will ship with over 15 pre-installed behaviors, offering users immediate examples of its capabilities, from simple gestures and animated facial expressions to more complex interactions like basic object detection.[8][9] A simulation SDK is also available, allowing developers to test and refine their code even before receiving the physical robot.[10][7]
The launch of the Reachy Mini is a deliberate step in Hugging Face's broader strategy to democratize the field of robotics, mirroring the success of its open-source approach in the AI software domain.[1][2] The company's CEO, Clém Delangue, has voiced concerns about a future dominated by proprietary, closed-source robots controlled by a handful of large corporations.[2] By providing open-source hardware, software, and simulation environments, Hugging Face aims to foster a community-driven ecosystem where users can freely modify, extend, and share their creations.[4] This philosophy aligns with the principles of the Robot Operating System (ROS), which became an industry standard by providing a shared infrastructure that eliminated redundant coding and spurred innovation.[1] The company envisions a future where millions of applications and features are developed and shared by the community, creating a vibrant and collaborative landscape for robotics development.[11] This initiative follows the launch of LeRobot, a Hugging Face project aimed at providing open-source tools and models specifically for robotics, further solidifying the company's commitment to building an open and accessible robotics future.[12][13] The lite version of the Reachy Mini is expected to begin shipping in late summer 2025, with the wireless model rolling out in batches from fall 2025 into 2026.[3][12]