Melania Trump Emerges as AI Advocate, Warns 'The Robots Are Here'

Melania Trump's AI Era Is Upon Us

The ever elusive first lady has emerged with a brief to exert thought leadership over AI, for the children. Some insiders are excited; others won't touch the subject with a 10-foot pole. Even more so than the first time around, Melania Trump's tenure as first lady thus far has been more notable for her absence than her presence. But that's beginning to change. The ever elusive first lady, who has been highly sparing in her public appearances, emerged in recent weeks to highlight the newest addition to her slim policy portfolio: artificial intelligence, for the children. First came a confusing video announcement, which included minimal specifics on her new initiative to help American children through AI in education. The only hard bit of information on offer was about a new competition involving students submitting AI-conceived projects to the federal government. (Some, per the White House AI challenge guidebook, will do so on posterboard, while others will "provide a demonstration or video of the technology solution.") In the video, as an ambient soundtrack straight out of a commercial for a pharmaceutical drug trial plays, she says students can "unleash their imagination and showcase the spirit of American innovation" without explaining what any of that means, telling students to register at AI.gov and wishing them good luck. Then she made a rare appearance alongside her husband at a dinner and glorified grovel-fest with tech executives last week. (Our Brian Barrett described the event as "a bit like thanking the school bully for setting the tone such that you can give him your lunch money.") Earlier in the day, at an event for her education-themed AI task force -- which many of the dinner invitees' companies are supporting -- she talked about the rise of the machines and how "English is a new coding language for many." In a totally not ominous way, she declared, "The robots are here. Our future is no longer science fiction." When calling around to my Trumpworld sources following the dinner, it became clear that nobody seems to know what the details of this AI education initiative will entail. Further, with the exceptions of someone in the room for the dinner and a well-connected source in Trumpworld who works in the AI space, everyone else followed standard self-preservation procedures meant to help them last in the president's orbit. One White House source simply responded with a stand-alone question mark when I texted them asking what they knew about the first lady's new AI portfolio. Others told me, in so many words, that they weren't willing to touch anything involving the first lady with a 10-foot pole -- a recurring theme in Trumpworld going back to the president's first campaign and previous term in office. In at least some corners of the AI industry, which enjoys increasingly chummy relations with the White House, Melania's reported desire to become, as the New York Post put it, "the first lady of technology" appears to be welcome news. "It's really important," an AI executive familiar with the planning and who has ties in Trumpworld tells me, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations. "I think by seeing Melania Trump, the first lady, take an interest in this, you really see her focus on the academics and the education and how every student ... could have a tutor and that becomes possible with AI at a low cost."

Video: Melania Trump Says 'the Robots Are Here'

The first lady, Melania Trump, issued a warning about the future of artificial intelligence during a meeting with tech executives at the White House on Thursday. The robots are here. Our future is no longer science fiction. A.I. will serve as the underpinning of every business sector in our nation. In fact, I predict A.I. will represent the single largest growth category in our nation during this administration. But as leaders and parents, we must manage A.I.'s growth responsibly. During this primitive stage, it is our duty to treat A.I. as we would our own children: empowering, but with watchful guidance.

Elusive but influential: Melania Trump hones in on tech as first lady

Watch: "The robots are here", says Melania Trump at AI task force meeting First Lady Melania Trump made a rare public appearance at the White House on Thursday, telling the crowd that "the robots are here" and that it is "our responsibility to prepare America's children" for the AI-driven decades ahead. "Our future is no longer science fiction," she said. "During this primitive stage, it is our duty to treat AI as we would our own children - empowering, but with watchful guidance." The event - a meeting of a White House AI education task force established earlier this year - was one of so far only a handful of public events for a first lady who has proven both elusive and influential since her husband returned to the White House. Born Melanija Knavs in Slovenia, the 55-year-old first lady and former fashion model was, for a time, often described as an "enigma" - less public than her predecessors, with fewer speeches and public engagements. Her relative absence during long stretches of her husband's ultimately successful 2024 campaign even prompted a flurry of news articles with headlines asking "Where is Melania?". Sightings of Mrs Trump are infrequent at the White House, and she reportedly spends much of her time in New York and Florida. But since the start of the second administration in January, Mrs Trump has taken what some have described as a more active - and focused - approach to a role that is largely undefined and that morphs from administration to administration. Much of her attention has been on children, building on a previous "Be Best" initiative created during Mr Trump's first term, which focused on well-being and combated cyberbullying and opioid abuse. In addition to her recent work on AI, she was instrumental in pushing through the Take It Down Act which criminalised posting "intimate images" - real or AI-generated - online without an individual's consent. The bill received rare bipartisan support among deeply divided US lawmakers. In a first for a first lady, she co-signed a piece of legislation into law when she joined her husband on stage to sign the bill.

Melania Trump Has a Warning for Humanity: 'The Robots Are Here'

Shawn McCreesh covers the White House. He reported from the East Room. Melania Trump turned up at the White House on Thursday with a warning for all mankind. "The robots are here," she said. "Our future is no longer science fiction." It wasn't exactly "The Day the Earth Stood Still," but it was a fascinating sight nonetheless. This first lady does not come to Washington easily or often, but felt compelled to return to speak about the possibilities and dangers of artificial intelligence and the collective duty of our species. "As leaders and parents, we must manage A.I.'s growth responsibly," she said in her remarks. "During this primitive stage, it is our duty to treat A.I. as we would our own children -- empowering, but with watchful guidance." She was sitting at the head of a round table that had been set up in the East Room. To her right sat Michael Kratsios, the administration's tech czar. Also up there was David Sacks, the administration's go-to guy on crypto and A.I. initiatives; a couple of cabinet secretaries; and the heads of Google and IBM. Mrs. Trump wore an ecru-colored suit and looked out into an audience of dozens of tech types. Sam Altman, the boyish-looking chief executive of OpenAI, sat in the front row and listened as Mrs. Trump read from her binder. "We are living in a moment of wonder," she said, "and it is our responsibility to prepare America's children." Mrs. Trump spoke from this room back in May when she unveiled a new postage stamp commemorating former first lady Barbara Bush. But that didn't seem like a very Melania kind of event. It wasn't glamorous and it definitely wasn't cutting edge. And it turns out that this first lady is kind of a techno-futurist. We only get flashes of her from time to time, but she has shown herself to be captivated by the wonders and horrors and opportunities of modern technologies, time and again. She's got her own memecoin (it's called $MELANIA), and she generated headlines last year when she made the controversial decision to use artificial intelligence mimicking her own voice to narrate the audiobook version of her memoir (it's also called "MELANIA"). "Let the future of publishing begin," she said at the time. Her signature focus as first lady is all about digital. She successfully pushed a bill to protect women and children online from the spread of deepfake images and revenge porn and internet catfishing schemes. Last week, she launched a nationwide "Presidential Artificial intelligence Challenge," inviting students and educators to visit AI.Gov. She brought Hayley Harrison, her chief of staff and most trusted confidante, to the round table, and appointed her to the White House's task force on A.I. And so, a portrait emerges of an inscrutable first lady whose remarks Thursday sounded like something out of a Philip K. Dick novel. "Cars now steer themselves through our cities, robots hold steady hands in the operating room, and drones are redefining the future of war," she said. She talked about "first-generation humanoids." It made for quite the juxtaposition to how her husband had talked about the future of artificial intelligence just two days earlier. On Tuesday, he was holding forth in the Oval Office when a reporter asked him about a viral video that appeared to show bags being thrown out of windows of the White House residence. "That's probably A.I. generated," Mr. Trump said of the video. He explained that it had to be a fake video because those windows in the White House don't open so easily. "In fact, my wife was complaining about it the other day," he said. "She said, 'I'd love to have a little fresh air come in,' but you can't -- they're bulletproof." Actually, earlier that day, the White House press office had confirmed in a statement that the video was real but that nothing untoward had occurred; it was merely "a contractor who was doing regular maintenance while the president was gone." Still, the subject of the mysterious video had piqued the president's interest in artificial intelligence. "One of the problems we have with A.I.: It's both good and bad," he mused. "If something happens really bad, just blame A.I. But also, they create things, it works both ways." A new thought occurred to him just then: "If something happens that's really bad, maybe I'll just have to blame A.I.." This notion seemed exactly the sort of thing his wife would soon warn about from the White House. ("We must manage A.I.'s growth responsibly.") Mr. Trump also mentioned a different video he'd seen and was haunted by. This one sounded like it was definitely generated by A.I. As he described it, the video showed him evolving from the baby he once was into the man he is today. "It's a little bit scary, to be honest with you," he said. As his wife said Thursday: "Our future is no longer science fiction."

Melania Trump has a warning for humanity: 'Robots are here'

Melania Trump addressed the potential and perils of AI at the White House, emphasizing the need for responsible management and guidance, likening it to nurturing children. She highlighted AI's growing presence in various sectors, contrasting her perspective with her husband's recent comments on AI-generated content. Her focus as first lady includes digital safety and AI initiatives. Melania Trump turned up at the White House on Thursday with a warning for all humanity. "The robots are here," she said. "Our future is no longer science fiction." It wasn't exactly "The Day the Earth Stood Still," but it was a fascinating sight nonetheless. This first lady does not come to Washington easily or often, but felt compelled to return to speak about the possibilities and dangers of AI and the collective duty of our species. "As leaders and parents, we must manage AI's growth responsibly," she said in her remarks. "During this primitive stage, it is our duty to treat AI as we would our own children-empowering, but with watchful guidance." She was sitting at the head of a round table that had been set up in the East Room. To her right sat Michael Kratsios, the administration's tech czar. Also up there was David Sacks, the administration's go-to guy on crypto and AI initiatives; a couple of Cabinet secretaries; and the heads of Google and IBM. Trump wore an ecru-coloured suit and looked out into an audience of dozens of tech types. Sam Altman, the boyish-looking CEO of OpenAI, sat in the front row and listened as Trump read from her binder. "We are living in a moment of wonder," she said, "and it is our responsibility to prepare America's children." We only get flashes of her from time to time, but she has shown herself to be captivated by the wonders and horrors and opportunities of modern technologies, time and again. She's got her own memecoin (it's called $MELANIA), and she generated headlines last year when she made the controversial decision to use artificial intelligence mimicking her own voice to narrate the audiobook version of her memoir (it's also called "MELANIA"). "Let the future of publishing begin," she said at the time. Her signature focus as first lady is all about digital. She successfully pushed a bill to protect women and children online from the spread of deepfake images and revenge porn and internet catfishing schemes. Last week, she launched a nationwide "Presidential Artificial intelligence Challenge," inviting students and educators to visit AI.gov. She brought Hayley Harrison, her chief of staff and most trusted confidant, to the roundtable, and appointed her to the White House's task force on AI. And so, a portrait emerges of an inscrutable first lady whose remarks Thursday sounded like something out of a Philip K Dick novel. "Cars now steer themselves through our cities, robots hold steady hands in the operating room and drones are redefining the future of war," she said. She talked about "first-generation humanoids." It made for quite the juxtaposition to how her husband had talked about the future of artificial intelligence just two days earlier. On Tuesday, he was holding forth in the Oval Office when a reporter asked him about a viral video that appeared to show bags being thrown out of windows of the White House residence. "That's probably AI generated," Trump said of the video. He explained that it had to be a fake video because those windows in the White House don't open so easily. "In fact, my wife was complaining about it the other day," he said. "She said, 'I'd love to have a little fresh air come in,' but you can't-they're bulletproof." Actually, earlier that day, the White House press office had confirmed in a statement that the video was real but that nothing untoward had occurred; it was merely "a contractor who was doing regular maintenance while the president was gone." Still, the subject of the mysterious video had piqued the president's interest in artificial intelligence. Trump also mentioned a different video he'd seen and was haunted by. This one sounded like it was definitely generated by AI. As he described it, the video showed him evolving from the baby he once was into the man he is today. "It's a little bit scary, to be honest with you," he said. As his wife said Thursday: "Our future is no longer science fiction."

Melania Trump Says Children Must Be Prepared For Artificial Intelligence: 'The Robots Are Here'

The first lady said Thursday during a White House event that "it is our duty to treat AI as we would our own children." First lady Melania Trump hosted a meeting on Tuesday of the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education and urged public and private leaders to help protect children from the dangers of the burgeoning technology. "We are living in a moment of wonder, and it is our responsibility to prepare children in America," declared the first lady. "Cars now steer themselves through our cities, robots hold steady hands in the operating room and drones are redefining the future of war." "Innovations of first-generation humanoids, factory automation and autonomous vehicles have surged from private sector investment," she said. "Every one of these advancements, it's powered by AI. The robots are here. Our future is no longer science fiction." The first lady appeared with various federal and private officials, including White House science and technology director Michael Kratsios, billionaire "crypto czar" David Sacks, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna. Sam Altman, whose ChatGPT platform announced parental controls after the suicide of a teenage user, reportedly listened from the crowd. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, who mispronounced "AI" as "A1" earlier this year, sat onstage with the first lady. "I predict AI will represent the single largest growth category in our nation during this administration," said Melania Trump."I won't be surprised if AI becomes known as the greatest engine of progress in the history of the United States of America." "But as leaders and parents, we must manage AI's growth responsibly," she continued. The first lady has used her platform in similar capacities before: She launched the "Be Best" anti-cyberbullying initiative during her husband's first term and helped garner the bipartisan support required to pass the anti-revenge porn Take It Down Act into law earlier this year. She also made headlines last year after controversially opting to use AI to mimic her own voice to narrate the audiobook version of her memoir. The first lady announced on social media at the time, "Let the future of publishing begin." She said Thursday, "During this primitive stage, it is our duty to treat AI as we would our own children -- empowering, but with watchful guidance." President Donald Trump made a troubling joke Tuesday that clashed with that ethos entirely, however. "If something happens that's really bad, maybe I'll just have to blame AI," he mused. The event with the first lady was held amid Federal Trade Commission investigations into OpenAI, Meta and other tech companies over the impact their chatbots have had on children's mental health. On Thursday, McMahon said her department is eager to bring AI into classrooms across the country.