diff --git a/daemon/containerd/image_pull.go b/daemon/containerd/image_pull.go
index 9f76564b2d..aa520d01f8 100644
--- a/daemon/containerd/image_pull.go
+++ b/daemon/containerd/image_pull.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"strings"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
 	containerd "github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/client"
@@ -150,17 +151,27 @@ func (i *ImageService) pullTag(ctx context.Context, ref reference.Named, platfor
 		}
 	}()
 
-	var sentPullingFrom bool
+	var sentPullingFrom, sentModelNotSupported atomic.Bool
 	ah := c8dimages.HandlerFunc(func(ctx context.Context, desc ocispec.Descriptor) ([]ocispec.Descriptor, error) {
 		if desc.MediaType == c8dimages.MediaTypeDockerSchema1Manifest {
 			return nil, distribution.DeprecatedSchema1ImageError(ref)
 		}
+
+		ociAiArtifactManifest := c8dimages.IsManifestType(desc.MediaType) && isModelMediaType(desc.ArtifactType)
+		aiMediaType := isModelMediaType(desc.MediaType)
+
+		if ociAiArtifactManifest || aiMediaType {
+			if !sentModelNotSupported.Load() {
+				sentModelNotSupported.Store(true)
+				progress.Message(out, "", `WARNING: AI models are not supported by the Engine yet, did you mean to use "docker model pull/run" instead?`)
+			}
+		}
 		if c8dimages.IsLayerType(desc.MediaType) {
 			id := stringid.TruncateID(desc.Digest.String())
 			progress.Update(out, id, "Pulling fs layer")
 		}
 		if c8dimages.IsManifestType(desc.MediaType) {
-			if !sentPullingFrom {
+			if !sentPullingFrom.Load() {
 				var tagOrDigest string
 				if tagged, ok := ref.(reference.Tagged); ok {
 					tagOrDigest = tagged.Tag()
@@ -168,7 +179,7 @@ func (i *ImageService) pullTag(ctx context.Context, ref reference.Named, platfor
 					tagOrDigest = ref.String()
 				}
 				progress.Message(out, tagOrDigest, "Pulling from "+reference.Path(ref))
-				sentPullingFrom = true
+				sentPullingFrom.Store(true)
 			}
 
 			available, _, _, missing, err := c8dimages.Check(ctx, i.content, desc, p)
@@ -254,3 +265,7 @@ func writeStatus(out progress.Output, requestedTag string, newerDownloaded bool)
 		progress.Message(out, "", "Status: Image is up to date for "+requestedTag)
 	}
 }
+
+func isModelMediaType(mediaType string) bool {
+	return strings.HasPrefix(strings.ToLower(mediaType), "application/vnd.docker.ai.")
+}
diff --git a/daemon/containerd/image_snapshot.go b/daemon/containerd/image_snapshot.go
index 9924be68a5..0084e2141c 100644
--- a/daemon/containerd/image_snapshot.go
+++ b/daemon/containerd/image_snapshot.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package containerd
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"strings"
 
 	c8dimages "github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/core/images"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/core/leases"
@@ -104,6 +105,15 @@ func (i *ImageService) getImageSnapshot(ctx context.Context, descriptor *ocispec
 		return "", err
 	}
 
+	cfgDesc, err := platformImg.Config(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	if strings.HasPrefix(strings.ToLower(cfgDesc.MediaType), "application/vnd.docker.ai.") {
+		return "", errors.New("Running AI models directly by the Engine is not supported yet, please use 'docker model run' instead")
+	}
+
 	unpacked, err := platformImg.IsUnpacked(ctx, i.snapshotter)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
diff --git a/distribution/errors.go b/distribution/errors.go
index 8463e9ec92..d443c7e421 100644
--- a/distribution/errors.go
+++ b/distribution/errors.go
@@ -203,6 +203,14 @@ func retryOnError(err error) error {
 	return err
 }
 
+type AIModelNotSupportedError struct{}
+
+func (e AIModelNotSupportedError) Error() string {
+	return `AI models are not yet supported by the Engine, please use "docker model pull/run" instead`
+}
+
+func (e AIModelNotSupportedError) InvalidParameter() {}
+
 type invalidManifestClassError struct {
 	mediaType string
 	class     string
diff --git a/distribution/pull_v2.go b/distribution/pull_v2.go
index 37ec595a44..22c0d08677 100644
--- a/distribution/pull_v2.go
+++ b/distribution/pull_v2.go
@@ -498,6 +498,9 @@ func (p *puller) validateMediaType(mediaType string) error {
 
 func checkSupportedMediaType(mediaType string) error {
 	lowerMt := strings.ToLower(mediaType)
+	if strings.HasPrefix(lowerMt, "application/vnd.docker.ai.") {
+		return AIModelNotSupportedError{}
+	}
 	for _, mt := range supportedMediaTypes {
 		// The should either be an exact match, or have a valid prefix
 		// we append a "." when matching prefixes to exclude "false positives";