Reuters
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has applied to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to trademark her voice in a new move to protect herself against AI-generated deepfakes, records showed on Monday.
Her application, dated October 5 on the EUIPO website and confirmed by her office, includes a four-second audio recording of herself twice repeating the phrase, in Italian, "I am Giorgia Meloni."
"Io sono Giorgia" ("I am Giorgia") was the title of her 2021 autobiography that echoed a famous declaration Meloni made at a political rally in 2019 and which was even turned into a disco track.
The EUIPO application is still under examination.
Italian media have reported that even if approved, it would not by itself prevent the use of her voice in AI-generated deepfakes, though it could create additional legal obstacles for those seeking to replicate it.
In 2024, Meloni launched a civil action against a man from Sardinia accused of creating and posting online deepfake pornographic images using her face. The case remains pending before an Italian court.
Her application, dated October 5 on the EUIPO website and confirmed by her office, includes a four-second audio recording of herself twice repeating the phrase, in Italian, "I am Giorgia Meloni."
"Io sono Giorgia" ("I am Giorgia") was the title of her 2021 autobiography that echoed a famous declaration Meloni made at a political rally in 2019 and which was even turned into a disco track.
The EUIPO application is still under examination.
Italian media have reported that even if approved, it would not by itself prevent the use of her voice in AI-generated deepfakes, though it could create additional legal obstacles for those seeking to replicate it.
In 2024, Meloni launched a civil action against a man from Sardinia accused of creating and posting online deepfake pornographic images using her face. The case remains pending before an Italian court.
