Italian PM files to trademark her voice against AI threats

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has applied to trademark her voice in a move to protect herself against artificial intelligence (AI) deepfakes.

The application to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) was made on Monday and can be found on their website, external. The prime minister's office also confirmed the application.

As part of it, Meloni recorded a four-second audio where she says "Io sono Giorgia" - I am Giorgia Meloni" in Italian - twice.

Meloni is not alone in filing to protect her identity from unauthorised use by AI platforms. In January, US actor Matthew McConaughey led the way by trademarking his image and voice.

Singer Taylor Swift did similar in April, submitting three trademark applications in the US - one using a photo of herself on stage during her Eras Tour, and the other two being audio clips of her introducing herself while promoting her last album.

In August, more than 80 performers called on British Prime Minister Andy Burnham to introduce legislation which would give every person in the UK a legal right to own their voice.

Actors including Matt Lucas, Hugh Bonneville and Nicola Coughlan were among those calling for greater protection against their voices being used by AI.

Voice clones are created by training AI on recordings of real people. Quick versions can be made from a few seconds of audio, but high-quality copycats tend to require hours.

Meloni's decision to trademark her voice comes ahead of Italy's general elections next year.

The phrase, "Io sono Giorgia", was the title of Meloni's 2021 autobiography and is associated with the prime minister's political campaigns.

In 2024, Meloni sought €100,000 (£84,920) in damages after deepfake porn videos of her were uploaded online.

A deepfake image is one where the face of one person is digitally added to the body of another. In recent years, deepfake porn has become commonplace on the internet and victims have spoken out about the trauma it has caused them.

More recently, in May this year, Meloni warned of the dangers of deepfakes as several AI-generated images of her wearing lingerie were circulating online.

In a post on social media, Meloni added: "The point, however, goes beyond me. Deepfakes are a dangerous tool, because they can deceive, manipulate, and strike anyone. I can defend myself. Many others cannot."