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Melania Trump was accompanied by a humanoid robot companion on Wednesday, as she arrived at the White House East Room for the final day of a summit she had convened with counterparts from around the world through her Fostering the Future Together global initiative.
The group has been discussing ways to empower children using education, innovation and technology, including artificial intelligence.
The U.S. first lady and the robot walked slowly side by side down the red carpet from the far end of the hallway. The first lady paused just before the entrance to the East Room, while the robot circled the table where the panelists were seated and took up a position in the centre of the room.
It took a moment to scan the audience before speaking.
A svelte black and white robot joined Melania Trump, the U.S. president’s wife, at the inaugural Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit on Wednesday. The robot introduced itself to attendees as a ‘humanoid’ named ‘Figure 3’ and said ‘Welcome’ before offering similar greetings in 10 other languages.
“Thank you, first lady Melania Trump, for inviting me to the White House. It is an honour to be at Fostering the Future Together’s global coalition inaugural meeting,” it said.
“I’m Figure 03, a humanoid built for the United States of America,” it said. “I am grateful to be part of this historic movement to empower children with technology and education.”
“Welcome,” it said before offering similar greetings in 10 other languages. The robot then thanked everyone and retraced its steps back down the red carpet.
The startup robotics company Figure AI, based in Sunnyvale, California, introduced Figure 03 in October 2025 as its third-generation humanoid robot for people to use at home for help with such household tasks as laundry, cleaning and washing dishes, according to its website and company literature.
CEO Brett Adcock said on social media he was “proud to see F.03 make history as the first humanoid robot in the White House.”
The startup is competing with Boston Dynamics, Elon Musk’s Tesla and several Chinese companies to build human-like robots capable of performing some human tasks.
