In brief
- U.S. First Lady Melania Trump has released an AI-narrated audiobook of her memoir, available exclusively via the ElevenReader app.
- The book explores her Slovenian childhood, modeling career, and her meeting with President Donald Trump, offering a personal look at her journey to the White House.
- The release comes days after Melania joined President Trump to sign the Take It Down Act, a new federal law targeting non-consensual intimate imagery and AI-generated deepfakes.
U.S. First Lady Melania Trump has released the audiobook version of her memoir, “Melania,” using an AI-generated replica of her voice—marking the first time a U.S. First Lady has deployed artificial intelligence to narrate a commercial publication.
The voice model was created “under her direction and supervision” in collaboration with AI audio startup ElevenLabs, according to her official website.
The audiobook, launched Thursday, is available for $25 exclusively through the ElevenReader app, a dedicated AI-powered audio platform built by ElevenLabs.
Initially released in English, additional versions in Spanish, Portuguese, and Hindi are expected in the coming weeks.
“I am honored to bring you Melania – The AI Audiobook – narrated entirely using artificial intelligence in my own voice,” Trump tweeted on Thursday. “Let the future of publishing begin.”
The book “reflects on her Slovenian childhood, the pivotal moments that led her to the world of high fashion in Europe and New York, and the serendipitous meeting with Donald Trump, a chance encounter that forever changed the course of her life,” according to its official Amazon description.
AI voice cloning’s “legal gray zone”
The use of AI to mimic Melania Trump’s voice highlights the technical and legal considerations of AI voice cloning, Dhrupad Das, Web3 lawyer and founding partner at Panda Law, told Decrypt.
Das said that while text-to-speech (TTS) technology is widely used and legally uncontroversial when it comes to generic narration, cloning the voice of a public figure introduces risk.
While Trump has licensed the rights for the use of her voice to ElevenLabs, Das noted that, “There’s a legal gray zone when AI mimics celebrities or political leaders, especially if their personality rights haven’t been explicitly licensed.”
“The moment you use a recognizable voice, you’re entering legal territory, even if the data came from public sources,” Das noted.
The lawyer added that the AI tech behind celebrity narrations could also be used to help scale education, accessibility, or government services.
Melania Trump and the “Take it Down Act”
Melania Trump’s audiobook runs just over seven hours and joins ElevenReader’s growing catalog of AI-narrated works, which includes publications by figures including Maya Angelou, Deepak Chopra, and Arianna Huffington.
Trump’s public reemergence comes just days after her appearance at the White House for the signing of the “Take It Down Act,” a new law that criminalizes the online publication of non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated deepfakes, and mandates takedown by platforms within 48 hours.
“This legislation is a powerful step forward in our efforts to ensure that every American, especially young people, can feel better protected from their image or identity being abused,” Melania Trump said at the signing.
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