BEEP. BOOP. WADDLE. WADDLE: Rice AI Is Transforming Pudgy Penguins’ Mascot Pax Into A Robot!

From a fat flightless bird huddling on the blockchain to a real life robot that could soon waddle among us!

On Monday, Hong Kong based robotics company and Nvidia Inception Program project Rice AI announced that it is teaming up with Pudgy Penguins to bring the brand’s mascot, Pax, to life as a robot companion called the Pengu Minibot.

“The rumors were real,” Rice AI tweeted. “We’re extremely proud to announce that Rice Robotics is set to bring a part of @pudgypenguins to life in a way you can actually experience. Built as a robot companion to move, interact and bring the world of Pudgy Penguins into the real world. The Pengu Minibot is set to join the Huddle, real soon!”

 

 

Tonight, we do not yet know when or how the huddle will be able to get their flippers on these cute new bots. But we do know that this isn’t Rice AI’s first time bringing a beloved brand mascot to life as a cute little robot.

Back in May 2025, the company debuted its first prototype of a Floki inspired MiniBot 1 that could listen to commands and process the world around it.

 

“Pudgy Penguins continues to find new ways to bring Pengu into the real world,” Pudgy Penguins tweeted from its Pengu Asia account. “Pengu Minibot coming soon.”

 

The Gazette will continue to follow all things Pudgy Penguins and will let you know when more information about these bots becomes available. Stay tuned for updates!