After artificial intelligence (AI) generative conversational and agentic AI, now places robotics! The latter could soon become the third wave of emerging AI, after the shattering arrival of Chatgpt in 2022. This is what Thomas Wolf, the co-founder of the Franco-American unicorn Hugging Face, thinks, and which hosts AI models in open source. “We think that robotics will move forward by the next few years,” notes the manager.
To prepare for this new wave of AI, Hugging Face announces that it has just bought Pollen Robotics. The amount of the redemption has not been communicated. Pollen Robotics is a Bordeaux startup, created in 2016 by two former researchers from INRIA. She designs and manufactures humanoid robots, in open source. Its Reachy 2 flagship robot is a advanced humanoid robot compatible with virtual reality. It costs $ 70,000. The startup has already sold it to universities, companies or AI laboratories, both in France and internationally. It achieves more than a million turnover and employs around twenty employees. Pollen Robotics will remain in Bordeaux and its teams are not intended to be integrated directly into the parent company.
First redemption in robotics
For Hugging Face, the objective with this acquisition is to combine generative AI in the form of conversational models with robotics. All, in open source. “We believe that robotics could be the next border unlocked by AI – and it should be in open source, affordable and piratable. Our vision: a future where all members of the community, from amateurs to businesses, will be able to build or use robotic assistants from open solutions, “says Thomas Wolf. In other words, everyone could use open source models to design their robots, also in open source, which would use generative AI.” Complete the Open Source Software to open source Harware. ”
This redemption is the first for Hugging in the face of robotics, and the sixth in its history. It is not excluded that she continues to buy other entities. The company now has 220 people and has already raised $ 395 million since its launch in 2016. It was founded by three French people and has been valued $ 4.5 billion.
