These Robot Ducks Are Taking Over (Goodbye, Privacy)

I've seen a lot of weird things from tech companies, but these little robot ducks are some of the cutest things I've seen all year!

They're called Microduck, they're made by Pollen Robotics, part of Hugging Face, and they're so cute you'll want to take a few home.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang brought them on stage at his GTC Berlin keynote on October 21. The ducks waddle on their tiny legs, make weird little creature noises, sit, stand up and even take a nap on cue.

And the internet lost its mind.

According to Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue, over 20,000 people preordered within a day, at $399 a duck. The first ones were meant to arrive before Christmas, but new orders now ship after April 2027.

But the most interesting part is how they were trained.

These ducks learned to walk and sit before they even physically existed.

They were first built as virtual ducks inside Nvidia's computer simulation. There, AI taught them to move, trying again and again until they got it right. Then the skills were transferred to the real robots.

So instead of building thousands of ducks that fall over while learning to walk, they let them fall over inside a computer.

And the best part? Owners can teach them new moves.

But this is where a concern begins.

We've filled our homes with smart TVs, cameras and smart speakers that listen to our commands... and now we want AI ducks with cameras too?

There's no evidence that Microduck spies on anyone, but we should check what data it collects.

Because we Albanians have a beautiful habit. Before we let someone into our home, we want to know everything. Who they are, where they're from, what they do for work, how much they earn...

But when the gadget is cute and does a little dance, we hand it the Wi-Fi password right away.

Welcome, ducks. Goodbye, privacy!

Photos: Pollen Robotics / Hugging Face and NVIDIA