Hugging Face gets into the humanoid robot game with Pollen Robotics purchase

Simon Alibert and Rémi Cadene, robotics researchers at Hugging Face, pose wearing T-shirts with the Hugging Face logo as they stand alongside Reachy 2, a humanoid robot built by Pollen Robotics. (Credit: Photo courtesy of Hugging Face)

AI company Hugging Face is taking a big leap into robotics with the acquisition of humanoid robotics startup Pollen Robotics.

The financial terms were not disclosed, but Pollen’s co-founders, Matthieu Lapeyre and Pierre Rouanet, and approximately 20 Pollen employees will be joining Hugging Face.

Pollen, which was founded in 2016 and is based in the French city of Bordeaux, had raised €2.5 million (about $2.8 million) in venture capital funding to date.