Hugging Face Doubles Down on Raspberry Pi with Game-Changing Desktop Robots
Hugging Face just made its boldest hardware play yet—and it's betting on Raspberry Pi to power a new wave of accessible AI robotics.
Why it matters: The move could democratize desktop automation, putting DIY bots within reach of developers, tinkerers, and startups tired of six-figure 'enterprise solutions.'
The silicon elephant in the room: While Nvidia GPUs dominate AI training, Hugging Face's pivot suggests edge devices might be the next battleground. (Bonus jab: Wall Street analysts are already pricing in a 300% 'AI synergy premium'—because nothing says valuation like slapping 'robot' in a pitch deck.)
Bottom line: If this delivers even half the promised plug-and-play simplicity, Raspberry Pi's $35 boards might finally do to lab robotics what they did to hobbyist computing—disrupt the hell out of it.
TLDRs;
- Hugging Face introduces two versions of the Reachy Mini robot, starting at $299.
- The premium Wireless model is powered by a Raspberry Pi 5 for standalone use.
- Open-source and Python-programmable, the robots are tailored to hobbyists and researchers.
- This marks Hugging Face’s deeper integration of AI software with affordable physical robotics.
Hugging Face is making a bold leap into hardware by opening pre-orders for its new Reachy Mini robots, a pair of open-source desktop units aimed squarely at developers and tinkerers in the robotics space.
The MOVE marks a significant expansion for the AI company, which is known more for its powerful machine learning models than physical devices.
Open-Source Robots for All
The Reachy Mini robots arrive in two flavors: the $299 Lite version and the $449 Wireless model. Both are designed to be assembled by the user and fully programmable in Python, encouraging hands-on development.
The key difference lies in how they handle computation. The Lite model requires an external computer, while the Wireless variant is equipped with a Raspberry Pi 5, allowing it to operate independently.
Thrilled to finally share what we've been working on for months at @huggingface 🤝@pollenrobotics
Our first robot: Reachy Mini
A dream come true: cute and low priced, hackable yet easy to use, powered by open-source and the infinite community.
Tiny price, small size, huge… pic.twitter.com/yl71EtwTKs
— Thomas Wolf (@Thom_Wolf) July 9, 2025
By choosing Raspberry Pi, Hugging Face leans into a widely accepted and low-cost computing solution, one that is already beloved by the Maker and developer communities. This hardware decision is more than a cost-saving measure. It reflects the company’s commitment to democratizing access to robotics by removing the need for specialized or expensive hardware setups.
Built for Developers
According to Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue, the Reachy Mini’s design is the result of close collaboration with early users and developer feedback. That input influenced not only the physical design but also the way the robots interact with Hugging Face’s broader AI ecosystem.
Both versions of the Reachy Mini integrate with the Hugging Face Hub, which hosts over 1.7 million models and hundreds of thousands of datasets. This seamless connection gives developers access to pretrained AI capabilities out of the box, allowing for rapid prototyping and experimentation in robotics applications such as gesture recognition, natural language processing, and computer vision.
A Strategic Step After Pollen Robotics Acquisition
The Reachy Mini rollout follows Hugging Face’s 2025 acquisition of Pollen Robotics, a company known for building humanoid robots used in research institutions like Cornell and Carnegie Mellon. That acquisition has proven to be more than symbolic. It now represents the foundation of Hugging Face’s vertical integration strategy, blending AI development tools with physical systems in a way that mirrors how smartphones unified hardware and software ecosystems in the 2000s.
By combining affordable hardware kits with cloud-based access to AI models, Hugging Face aims to bridge a long-standing gap between software-based artificial intelligence and real-world robotic applications. It’s a calculated move that places the company in a competitive position as both AI and robotics markets continue to accelerate.
Reigniting the Spirit of ROS and TurtleBot
The pricing and DIY nature of Reachy Mini evoke comparisons to TurtleBot, the low-cost robot kit launched in 2011 that sparked massive growth in the Robot Operating System (ROS) developer community. Just as TurtleBot made robotics development accessible to those outside major institutions, Reachy Mini seems poised to repeat that cycle of innovation at a broader scale.
The timing is also strategic. With robotics-as-a-service models gaining traction across industries, and AI hardware demand continuing to rise, Hugging Face is betting that open-source, Python-friendly robots will inspire the next generation of creators.
