Friday · November 13, 2026

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Physical AI

Hugging Face Expands Into AI Robotics with Launch of SO-101 Robotic Arm

Hugging Face has launched the SO-101, a new programmable, 3D-printable robotic arm designed for AI-driven manipulation tasks. Developed by the company’s robotics division, LeRobot, in collaboration with The Robot Studio, the SO-101 builds on last year’s SO-100 model with faster assembly, improved motors, and camera integration for AI training. 

Priced from $100, the arm supports reinforcement learning to perform simple pick-and-place functions. Hugging Face also partnered with WowRobo, Seeed Studio, and PartaBot to bring the product to market. 

The company recently acquired France-based Pollen Robotics, whose humanoid robot Reachy 2 will also be commercialized under the leadership of Remi Cadene, a former Tesla Optimus engineer now leading Hugging Face’s robotics team.

Featured image: Credit: Hugging Face

James Dargan
About the author
James Dargan

James Dargan is a writer and researcher at The AI Insider. His focus is on the AI startup ecosystem and he writes articles on the space that have a tone accessible to the average reader.

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