Hugging Face, the best known startup for the AI developer platform of the same name, sells a programmable 3D printable robot arm that allows you to pick up and place objects and perform some other basic chores.
The arm, called the SO-101, is a follow-up to hug Face’s previous robot arm, SO-100, released last year. The company’s robotics division, Lerobot, partnered with French robotics company The Robot Studio to debut the SO-100 in October for around $100.
Hugging Face has once again collaborated with Robot Studio for the So-101, and once again with Robotics Store Wowrobo, IoT Hardware Supply Seed Studio and Robotics Part Seller Partabot.
Compared to the SO-100, the SO-101 starts at $100 and is faster to assemble, improving the friction-reducing motor while reducing friction, allowing the arm to maintain its own weight. The camera-equipped arm can be trained through an AI technology called Renforce Learning. This allows you to “learn” to perform tasks such as picking up and placing LEGO blocks in bins.
I’m extremely excited to introduce the SO-101 today from @huggingface. Working with @therobotstudio, wowrobo, Seedstudio & Partabot.
Building on top of the SO-100 (the most popular robot arm ever?), the SO-101 is the first robot arm that AI builders should buy. …pic.twitter.com/y3ihskmigb
– Crem (@crementdellangue) April 28, 2025
To be clear, $100 is the base price for the SO-101. Thanks to insurance premiums for fully assembled units and US tariffs on imports in China, prices range from $100 to about $500 depending on the supplier.
The embracing face has greatly expanded its robotics efforts and recently has won France-based robotics startup Pollen Robots for private money. Leading by former Tesla Optimus engineer Remi Cadene, Face’s Robotics Wing will be selling the Reachy 2, a humanoid robot for pollen, and plans to allow developers to download and suggest code improvements.
