The unusual step of Italy's prime minister in the fight against artificial intelligence

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has filed a request to register her voice as a trademark in the European Union, aiming to protect herself from deepfake voice forgeries created by artificial intelligence. The move includes a four-second recording in which she says "I am Giorgia" twice. Meloni joins a list of prominent figures taking action to protect their identities.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has filed a request to register her voice as an official trademark with the European Union Intellectual Property Office. The move is intended to protect her identity from deepfake voice forgeries based on artificial intelligence. As part of the application, Meloni recorded a four-second audio clip in which she says the phrase "I am Giorgia" twice, a phrase associated with her and her political campaigns. Meloni is not alone in her fight against unauthorized use of her identity by AI platforms. In January of last year, American actor Matthew McConaughey registered his voice and image as a trademark, and in April, singer Taylor Swift took similar action. Deepfake voice forgeries are created by training AI on recordings of real people, with quick versions producible from just a few seconds of audio. Meloni's decision to register her voice comes against the backdrop of her past encounters with the deepfake phenomenon. In 2024, she demanded compensation of 100,000 euros after fake pornographic videos of her were uploaded online. In May of this year, Meloni warned of the dangers of these forgeries, after AI-generated images depicted her in sexual attire and were circulated online. She emphasized that "deepfakes are a dangerous tool, because they can deceive, manipulate, and harm anyone."