Hugging Face Expands Its Horizons with Acquisition of Pollen Robotics

One of the most impactful companies in the recent AI and robotics boom, Hugging Face, has acquired French robotics startup Pollen Robotics. Hugging Face has completed the acquisition for an undisclosed sum. This coup marks a huge acceleration of their foray into the world of humanoid robotics. In 2016, Matthieu Lapeyre and Pierre Rouanet co-founded Pollen Robotics. Their long-term vision is to eventually make humanoid robots practical enough for home use, assisting people in their daily lives.

Pollen Robotics has taken the world by storm with its new robot, “Le Robot.” This open-source humanoid robot was purpose-built to face onto household chores. Pollen Robotics and Hugging Face collaborated on this cutting-edge project. Their partnership combines the Tandon School’s prowess in robotics and artificial intelligence. Pollen Robotics is all about the applied use cases for humanoid robots. This approach has helped them become an industry leader in bringing down the cost and complexity of robotics technology.

Prior to its acquisition, Pollen Robotics had raised €2.5 million from investors. This funding came with support from Bpifrance, which further provided the company with the means to strengthen its projects. The startup’s commitment to developing accessible humanoid robots aligns with Hugging Face’s vision of integrating advanced AI technologies into everyday life.

Looking ahead Hugging Face has more robot releases on the horizon, specifically Reachy 2, another humanoid robot made by Pollen Robotics. Developers are free to download this robot and make improvements to its code. By implementing this initiative, the City contributes to an open-source environment that empowers tech community innovation and collaboration. This strategy not only makes the robot much more capable, but it opens the platform up to thousands of developers to inject their creativity and innovation.

Pollen Robotics has been doing amazing work promoting robotics initiatives at Hugging Face. This progress has occurred under the energetic and innovative leadership of Lapeyre and Rouanet. Their expertise in both robotics and artificial intelligence has enabled the companies to work closely together, laying the groundwork for future advancements in the field.