First lady Melania Trump shares the spotlight with a Figure 03 robot to promote the use of artificial intelligence in education.
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On Wednesday, an unexpected guest accompanied Melania Trump to the summit of the global coalition Fostering the Future Together: a Figure 03 humanoid robot that walks and talks.
At the event, the first lady outlined a future in which AI-powered humanoid robots — presented as an idealized educator named “Plato” — would provide students with personalized, instant access to human knowledge, including philosophy and art.
The Figure 03 robot is made by a robotics company based in Silicon Valley Figure AIwhich introduced its third-generation humanoid robot in October last year. The Figure 03 robot costs around $25,000, according to Forbes.
Figure 03 was designed for people to use at home, with demonstration videos showing it folding laundry, lifting eggs from a carton, using a washing machine and delivering drinks to its owners lounging by the pool. It has also been demonstrated in business use cases as a receptionist and package deliverer. Thanks to a proprietary AI engine called Helix, it can perform these tasks autonomously and respond to your voice commands.
Watch this: Figure 03: Everything we know about the new humanoid robot
At the White House, the humanoid robot walked slowly down the red carpet to deliver the keynote speech at the technology summit.
“I’m grateful to be part of this historic movement to empower children with technology and education,” said robot Figure 03. He then said “welcome” in multiple languages.
The First Lady later said AI-powered humanoid robots could be placed in children’s homes to aid in their education to “strengthen analytical and problem-solving skills and adapt in real time to the student’s pace, prior knowledge and even emotional state.”
Promoting AI in education
The two-day summit welcomes leaders from 45 countries and 28 technology organizations and aims to “empower children through education and technology,” according to a White House statement. Guests included representatives from tech giants such as Google, OpenAI and Microsoft, as well as data analytics company AI. Palantir.
The summit is part of the first lady’s Be Best: Fostering the Future initiative, which aims to help children learn using cutting-edge technology. It was introduced in 2018 as an awareness campaign to combat cyberbullying and help children affected by the opioid crisis.
U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said AI was one of the Department of Education’s top priorities on the first day of the summit.
“If we are able to effectively augment these resources by investing in AI infrastructure and training, we can offer expert instruction in countless fields, to hire large numbers of people at a fraction of the cost,” McMahon said Tuesday during a panel discussion.
According to McMahon, the Department of Education has already dedicated millions of dollars in grants to support the use of AI in schools.
The event follows criticism of the Trump administration’s 2025 executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. Although the Department of Education was not officially abolished, it underwent significant policy changes, funding reductions, and staff reductions.
The introduction of a humanoid robot at the summit sparked significant backlash among those wary of the role of technology in the classroom. Critics have taken to social media to express concerns that these machines could ultimately replace teachers, depriving the education system of essential human connections and leading to increased layoffs and cost-cutting.
On a Huffington Post Instagram post featuring the robot, commenters expressed deep skepticism, with one user sarcastically noting, “Well, get rid of educators in favor of a robot,” while another roundly rejected the concept, stating, “No, I don’t want to imagine a world with emotionless robots educating our children.” »
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.