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WASHINGTON — President Trump let his wife Melania co-sign legislation Monday to outlaw artificial intelligence-generated porn with real people’s faces — moments after claiming that Russian president Vladimir Putin had gushed about the first lady during a high-stakes phone call about the Ukraine war .
“Putin just said, they [Russians] respect your wife a lot,” Trump before signing the Take It Down Act during a Rose Garden ceremony. “I said, ‘What about me?’ They like Melania better.”
The Take It Down Act, which spurred the first lady to make a rare trip to Capitol Hill to lobby lawmakers earlier this year, criminalizes the distribution of non-consensual intimate imagery — including “revenge porn” that features real images and artificial intelligence-generated photos and videos.
After Trump, 78, signed the legislation, he passed the bill and a pen to his wife and asked for her signature in a reflection of her advocacy.
“She deserves to sign it,” the president said, adding that “America is blessed to have such a dedicated and compassionate first lady.”
Melania Trump is believed to be the first first lady to sign a piece of legislation alongside a sitting president.
“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,” said Melania Trump, 55.
“Artificial intelligence and social media are the digital candy for the next generation — sweet, addictive and engineered to have an impact on the connectivity development of our children,” she added. “But unlike sugar, these new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs and sadly, affect emotions.”
“We’ve all heard about deep fakes. I have them all the time, but nobody does anything,” said the president during his remarks.
“I ask [Attorney General] Pam [Bondi], ‘Can you help me, Pam?’ She says, ‘No, I’m too busy, too busy doing other things, don’t worry, you’ll survive.’ But a lot of people don’t survive.”
Ahead of Monday’s bill signing, 49 states had laws barring “revenge porn” on the books, with South Carolina the lone exception.
The new federal law passed the House 409-2 and the Senate by unanimous consent, becoming one of the first pieces of legislation criminalizing aspects of AI.
Perpetrators face up to two years in federal prison if the images feature an adult or three years if they depict a minor.
Websites must remove content within 48 hours of notification that the images violated the law, with enforcement delegated to the Federal Trade Commission.
English (US)