Washington DC - First Lady Melania Trump brought a surprise guest to a White House event on Wednesday – a walking, talking, humanoid robot.

Instead of husband President Donald Trump at her side, it was the "Figure 3" android that accompanied Melania down the famous red carpet.

The 55-year-old Melania, whose signature focus as first lady is on AI and digital spaces, was hosting a summit on empowering children with educational technology.

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"Thank you, First Lady Melania Trump, for inviting me to the White House," said the gray-and-black robot, gesturing with its hands in its brief opening remarks.

It then walked off the way it came.

There was applause from guests in the East Room of the White House, who included French first lady Brigitte Macron.

"It's fair to state you're my first American-made humanoid guest in the White House," said Slovenian-born Melania, reading from a prepared statement.

The former model, mother to the president's youngest son, 20-year-old Barron, went on to talk about how humanoid-based artificial intelligence would soon be used to educate children.

"Imagine a humanoid educator named Plato. Access to the classical studies is now instantaneous," she said.

"Predictably, our children will develop deep critical thinking and independent reasoning abilities."

Melania Trump has been taking on an increasingly public-facing role in recent months, after being an initially elusive presence at the White House early in her husband's second term.

She has hosted a number of events on AI and protecting children online.

But she has also taken on several money-spinning projects including a documentary called Melania, made in a multi-million-dollar deal with Amazon, and an audiobook of her autobiography that is narrated by AI.