new york wit – What sounds like President Donald Trump narrating a new Fannie Mae ad is actually an AI-reproduced voice reading script, according to a disclaimer in the video.
The audio in the ad, created with permission from the Trump administration, promises an “all-new Fannie Mae” and calls the organization “protector of the American dream.” The announcement comes as the administration struggles to show voters it is responsive to their concerns about affordability, including the housing market.
Trump plans to talk about housing during an appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where world leaders and corporate executives are meeting this week.
This isn’t the first time a member of the Trump family has used artificial intelligence to mimic his voice, with First Lady Melania Trump recently hiring AI technology company ElevenLabs to help voice the audio version of her memoir. It is not known who reproduced President Trump’s voice for the Fannie Mae ad. But ElevenLabs said in an email to The Associated Press on Sunday that the company did not produce Trump’s voiceover.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump last month He pledged in a prime-time speech It will introduce “some of the most aggressive housing reform plans in American history.”
“For generations, homeownership has meant security, independence and stability,” Trump’s digital voice says in the one-minute ad that aired Sunday. “But today, that dream seems out of reach for many Americans, not because they have stopped working hard, but because the system has stopped working for them.”
Fannie Mae and its counterpart Freddie Mac, which have been under government control since the Great Recession, purchase mortgages that meet their risk criteria from banks, helping to provide liquidity to the housing market. The two companies guarantee nearly half of the $13 trillion U.S. home loan market, and are the cornerstone of the American economy.
The ad says Fannie Mae will work with the banking industry to approve more potential homebuyers for mortgages.
Trump, Bill Bolte, who leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and others have said they want to sell Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shares on a major exchange but no concrete plans have been made yet.
Trump and Polte were also floated Extending a 30-year mortgage to 50 years In order to reduce monthly payments. Trump appeared to back away from the proposal after critics said the long-term loan would reduce people’s ability to create housing rights and increase their wealth.
Trump also said on social media earlier this month that he was Directing the federal government to purchase $200 billion in mortgage bondsA move he said would help lower mortgage rates at a time when Americans are concerned about home prices. Trump said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have $200 billion in cash that will be used in the purchase.
Earlier this month, Trump also said he wanted to Preventing large institutional investors f rum homebuying, saying the ban would make it easier for younger families to buy their first homes.
Trump’s permission to use AI is interesting given that he has complained about aides in the Biden administration using the robotic pen to apply the former president’s signature on laws, pardons, or executive orders. An autopen is a mechanical device used to copy a person’s original signature.
However, A a report The report issued by House Republicans does not include any concrete evidence that an automatic pen was used to sign Biden’s name without his knowledge.