Melania Trump turns to AI to narrate her new memoir

US First Lady Melania Trump is using artificial intelligence to narrate her memoir, Melania. The audiobook produced using ElevenLabs’ multilingual voice synthesis technology debuts on Friday in English and will soon be available in other languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, and Hindi.

Melania Trump announced the audiobook’s release in a post on X late Thursday, stating, “I am honored to bring you Melania: The AI Audiobook, narrated entirely using artificial intelligence in my own voice. Let the future of publishing begin.”

The seven-hour English version is available for $25 on the first lady’s official website. The ElevenLabs technology has also recreated her voice for audiences to hear the story in her signature tone across multiple languages, with more translations slated for release in the coming weeks.

Melania Trump tells her story through AI

Originally published in October 2024, just weeks before the presidential election, Melania chronicles the life of the first lady, from her upbringing in Cold War-era Yugoslavia to her position alongside President Donald Trump in the White House. 

The memoir tells the stories of Melania’s internal reactions to some of the most controversial policies of her husband’s first administration.

One chapter recounts her response to the Trump administration’s 2017 family separation policy at the US-Mexico border. A legal immigrant herself and mother to their son Barron, Melania Trump described the situation as deeply distressing. 

“It was critical to address this situation with speed, transparency, and compassion,” she wrote, adding that immigration policies must reflect America’s “values as a nation.”

Melania also described some political disagreements with her husband in their private relationship, explaining that she approached the family separation issue by first educating herself before confronting him behind closed doors. 

Last Tuesday, Melania welcomed the children of Executive Office staff to the White House to celebrate the annual “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.”

According to the White House Fact Sheet, the event took place in the Kennedy Garden, where children participated in a patriotic-themed arts and crafts activity. They decorated wooden American flags using red and blue markers, star-shaped stickers, and red, white, and blue pom-poms.

“It is always special to see children’s creativity and spirit on display, especially here at the White House where so many hardworking men and women support the success of our Nation every day,” the First Lady said in a statement.

AI regulation under the microscope in Congress

Melania Trump’s AI-powered publishing news coincides with a debate in Congress over the technology’s regulation. On Thursday, the US House of Representatives passed a tax and domestic policy bill by a narrow 215-214 vote. 

A provision in the bill restricts states from enforcing or enacting any regulations on AI technologies involved in interstate commerce. Specifically, it blocks state laws “limiting, restricting, or otherwise regulating AI models, systems, or automated decision systems.”

“The private sector should prepare today for a more deregulated tomorrow,” said Lydia Clougherty Jones, an analyst at Gartner, interpreting the bill as a sign of the administration’s hands-off approach to AI governance.

Tech industry leaders have been asking for federal action to supersede state-by-state AI laws, which they view as fragmented and inconsistent. In filings to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, companies such as OpenAI and Google coined the state-level patchwork as “overly burdensome and chaotic.”

During a recent hearing, Trahan bashed tech companies for lobbying against federal privacy legislation that includes consumer protections.