Discover Figure AI: The company powering Melania Trump's humanoid robot event

The White House welcomed its first "humanoid robot guest," with first lady Melania Trump joining hands with a robot from the robotics startup Figure AI.

Known as Figure 3, this robot joined the first lady for the second day of the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit, an event centered on technology and children's education.

Attendees were greeted by the robot in several languages, as it introduced itself as "a humanoid constructed in the United States of America," as noted in broadly shared footage from the summit.

This showcase marked one of the most prominent exhibitions of humanoid robotics in the US so far and underscores the growing prioritisation of technology in the nation amid global tech competition. China has similarly spotlighted humanoid robots at prominent events this year.

The first lady leveraged the robot to advocate her vision for incorporating AI into children's education, hinting at the possibility that these robots might serve as interactive educators at home someday.

Nevertheless, Figure AI notes its third-generation humanoids are versatile, with applications extending to commercial and household tasks.

The White House exposure is poised to enhance the reputation of Figure AI, supported by Nvidia, a lesser-known robotics company when compared to major players such as Tesla's Optimus and Boston Dynamics, although members of its team have backgrounds with those competitors and prominent tech companies like Apple.

Founded in 2022, Figure AI is the brainchild of Brett Adcock, a tech billionaire and entrepreneur who co-founded the publicly traded drone company Archer Aviation and a digital hiring marketplace Vettery.

The Helix AI system, the company's proprietary model, drives its robots by integrating vision, language, and action, enabling adaptive learning through observation and spoken commands.