First Lady Melania Trump headlined an event at the White House Thursday cautioning top tech leaders to be careful with AI. 

She told the meeting of the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education that ‘our future is no longer science fiction.’ 

Adding that ‘as leaders and parents, we must manage AI’s growth responsibly during this community stage.’

‘It is our duty to treat AI as we do our own children – empowering, but with watchful guidance,’ the first lady said. 

The first lady gave her warning hours after the president posted what appeared to be an AI-generated video showing California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff with a ‘pencil neck’ – the nickname given to him by Trump. Schiff has been a longtime rival of the president. 

Another video posted by the president to his @realdonaldtrump account Thursday showed California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom wearing a ‘Trump 2028’ hat.  

The East Room audience was flooded with tech bigwigs, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who is in a well publicized feud with former Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk. 

Cabinet heads flanked the first lady, including Education Secretary Linda McMahon – who credited 19-year-old Barron for piquing Melania’s interest in tech – prompting a big smile from the first lady.  

Since the first Trump administration, Melania’s portfolio has centered around keeping children safe from emerging technological threats. 

Her ‘Be Best’ initiative, launched in 2018 from the White House Rose Garden, initially focused on combating cyberbullying. 

‘When children learn positive online behaviors early-on, social media can be used in productive ways and can affect positive change,’ the first lady said at the Be Best debut. 

The roll-out received some eye-rolling due to her husband’s brash use of Twitter. 

In March, she expanded Be Best to include the issue of revenge porn – including images created using AI. 

The first lady visited Capitol Hill, the day before her husband’s joint address to Congress, to lobby lawmakers to pass the Take It Down Act, which would criminalize ‘non-consensual intimate content.’ 

It was her first appearance in Washington since Trump’s second inauguration. 

‘In an era where digital interactions are integral to daily life, it is imperative we safeguard children from mean-spirited and hurtful online behavior,’ she pressed. 

In May, she joined her husband in the Rose Garden for a signing ceremony for the legislation. 

In an unusual move, the president allowed the first lady to put her signature on the bill. 

During her remarks, she warned that social media and AI served as ‘digital candy for the next generation.’  

‘Sweet, addictive and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children,’ the first lady explained. ‘But unlike sugar, this new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs and sadly affect emotions and even be deadly.’

Last month, Melania launched Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge, as a way for K-12 students to use AI for good. 

Students were asked to come up with ways AI could be used to solve a community problem.  

She personally hasn’t shied away from utilizing new technologies. 

When she came out with her memoir, Melania, AI was used to create the audiobook. 

The first lady has also announced a number of NFTs – non-fungible tokens – a piece of digital property that can be purchased by Trump fans. 

Along with other Trump family members who have invested in cryptocurrency, she also launched her own meme coin, $MELANIA, in January.