Hugging Face's Reachy Mini: The Captivating AI Robot That Does Nothing Much, But Sells Like Hotcakes

Hugging Face’s new programmable Reachy Mini bots made their debut this week. These AI robots are open source, powered by Raspberry Pi, and sport cartoonish antennas and big, googly eyes. Out of the box, they don’t do much, but that’s precisely the charm—they are designed to be a canvas for developers and enthusiasts to bring their creativity to life. On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Max Zeff, and Anthony Ha discussed the launch of Reachy Mini, which generated a surprising $500,000 in sales within its first 24 hours. The hosts compared the bot to the TV show Seinfeld: just as Seinfeld was often described as a show about nothing, Reachy Mini is a device that doesn’t have a predefined purpose, yet it remains incredibly engaging. The launch of Reachy Mini marks a significant step for Hugging Face, known primarily for its contributions to open-source AI software. By venturing into the realm of physical products, the company is exploring new ways to engage with developers and hobbyists, encouraging them to experiment and innovate with AI in a tangible form. Korosec and Zeff agreed that Reachy Mini’s appeal lies in its potential for customization. While it may not perform any specific task right out of the box, the robot’s open-source nature invites users to program it to do almost anything they can imagine, from simple tasks to complex interactions. In addition to discussing Reachy Mini, the hosts touched on other notable tech news from the week. For those interested, the full episode is available on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo and posted every Wednesday and Friday. To stay updated, subscribe to Equity on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow Equity on X and Threads at @EquityPod for more insights and discussions.