In today’s edition: Caitlin Clark’s future in the WNBA, the result of OpenAI’s bet on applications, and the first lady’s visit to Washington. It takes a lot to get Melania Trump out in public. The first lady is best and most often described as “elusive” for
how rarely she participates in official White House events in a traditional first lady capacity. During President Trump’s first term, his daughter Ivanka Trump sometimes filled that role; more recently Vice President JD Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, has stepped in.
Perhaps it should be no surprise that the issue that got Melania to re-emerge is what seems to be the defining one of our times: AI.
She hosted the second meeting of the White House Task Force on AI Education yesterday. Alongside Trump cabinet members like Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Melania outlined a techno-optimist view of the future. “The robots are here,”
she said. “Our future is no longer science fiction.”
It seems that she’s genuinely interested in tech. The
New York Times even
described her as a “techno-futurist.” She’s also representing the Presidential AI Challenge, a competition for students to solve problems using AI. She had a memecoin ($MELANIA). Her audiobook
was narrated by an AI version of her voice. Even Be Best, her best-known campaign from Trump’s first term, was about cyberbullying.
She’s hardly the only one who feels AI’s pull to Washington. Melania’s event yesterday was followed by a dinner with Trump for the top CEOs in tech and AI. Many of those business leaders have already worked with the administration on the
AI action plan it released over the summer. Yesterday, those CEOs “took turns praising Trump,” the
Wall Street Journal reported. From Tim Cook to Sam Altman, CEOs thanked the president for being “pro-innovation” and “pro-business” and outlined their commitments to invest in American industry. In return, the president called the dinner party—which also included AMD chief Lisa Su and Oracle CEO Safra Catz—a “high-IQ group.”
Emma Hinchliffeemma.hinchliffe@fortune.comThe Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’
s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Subscribe here.
