Meloni seeks to trademark her voice in the EU to protect herself from AI deepfakes

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has filed with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) a request to register her voice as a trademark, as Reuters reports, in a new step to protect herself from deepfakes created with artificial intelligence. Records show that the application was filed on Monday and her office confirmed the move.

The request, dated 5 October on the EUIPO website, contains, according to Reuters’ reporting, a four-second audio recording in which Meloni twice repeats the phrase in Italian “I am Giorgia Meloni”. The phrase “Io sono Giorgia” is also the title of her 2021 autobiography and recalls the famous statement she made at a political rally in 2019 — which later also turned into a disco song.

As Reuters reports, manipulated photographs of Meloni have repeatedly circulated online in recent years and have occasionally been shared as genuine, including an image that presented her sitting on a bed in her underwear. She has condemned these materials as part of efforts to spread lies and to target individuals, calling on users to verify content before sharing it online — saying that, while she is able to defend herself, many others are not.

The application at the EUIPO is still under review, Reuters reports. Italian media have reported that, even if approved, it would not by itself prevent the use of her voice in AI-created deepfakes, although it could create additional legal obstacles for those seeking to copy it.

In 2024, Meloni started a civil action against a man from Sardinia accused of creating and posting online pornographic deepfake images using her face; the case is still under review before an Italian court.