A humanoid robot may have stolen the show at a White House event with First Lady Melania Trump Wednesday. The robot isn't the Optimus Bot from Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and may be from a company you haven't heard of, despite some heavy backers.

Figure 3.0 Goes To Washington

Figure, an AI robotics company founded in 2022 by Brett Adcock, has attracted some top investors in the company as it works to bring the Figure autonomous humanoid robot to the masses.

On Wednesday, Figure walked side-by-side with the first lady at the Fostering the Future Together Initiative Global Summit. Standing 5 feet 8 inches tall, Figure made quite the entry and showed off its capabilities of walking, turning, and then greeting the crowd.

With the global summit featuring people from 45 nations, Figure 3 was also able to greet participants in various languages.

"Thank you First Lady Melania Trump for inviting me," Figure 3 said.

The humanoid robot said it was happy to be at an event talking about empowering children with technology and education, and later left the room after the quick speech and waved to the audience.

Trump championed the use of AI to personalize learning, the growth of humanoid educators as a tool for students, and the role of technology and education as a driver for the economy of the United States in her keynote speech on Wednesday.

The first lady called Figure 3 "an American-made humanoid system" and highlighted the historic first of a humanoid robot at the White House. The event was celebrated in a White House press release, which could further validate the importance of Figure's historic first.

"The future of AI is personified – it will be formed in the shape of humans. Very soon artificial intelligence will move from our mobile phones to humanoids that deliver utility," Trump added.

The first lady said AI was at a turning point, referencing several other historic times for humanity in the past, including the Industrial Revolution, the dawn of electricity, the space race and the birth of the internet.

Adcock, who also co-founded Archer Aviation, shared a video of Figure 3 walking with Trump.

"So proud to see F.03 make history as the first humanoid robot in the White House," Adcock tweeted with a robot and USA flag emojis.

Beating Elon Musk to White House

Hearing that a humanoid robot appeared at the White House might lead many fans of President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk to assume it was Tesla’s Optimus Bot without reading the news.

Trump and Musk have had a close friendship in recent years and the president even hosted an event at the White House where he bought a Tesla Model S to show support for Musk in the past.

Musk has put a heavy emphasis on the Optimus Bot with plans to produce hundreds of thousands of humanoid robots in the future, with factories converting from making electric vehicles to ready-to-scale production of robots instead.

The billionaire has also put a future valuation of $25 trillion or more on Tesla, saying 80% of the company's valuation could come from the growth of Optimus Bot.

Optimus Bot has made headlines for its appearances at Tesla events and for greeting guests at the Tesla Diner in California.

Instead of becoming the first humanoid robot at the White House, Optimus Bot now takes a backseat to Figure and its newfound fame.

Figure Attracts Big Backers

Figure has raised money in several funding rounds, attracting investments from the likes of Jeff Bezos, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), T-Mobile Ventures, LG Technology Ventures, Salesforce (NYSE:CRM), Qualcomm Ventures (NASDAQ:QCOM), and OpenAI.

"Our vision at Figure is to bring humanoid robots into commercial operations as soon as possible," Adcock said of previous investments in the company. "AI and robotics are the future, and I am grateful to have the support of investors and partners who believe in being at the forefront."

A Series C funding round in 2025 saw the company valued at $39 billion, with the new financing going towards building humanoid robots at scale.

Figure has highlighted common tasks for the Figure 3 robot in the past, including laundry, cleaning, doing dishes and cleaning up an entire living room, a task that got Musk questioning if the robot was truly autonomous.

Armed with strong financing and backers, Figure looks to get its robot to market and to consumers. The humanoid robotics field is growing with Figure 3 and Optimus competing with the likes of Xiaomi, Unitree and Xpeng (NYSE:XPEV).

Photo Courtesy: Evan El-Amin on Shutterstock.com