Meloni seeks to trademark her voice to block AI deepfakes

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has filed an application with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to register her voice as a trademark, according to public records cited by Reuters. The filing is dated October 5, and her office has confirmed it. The application includes a 4-second recording in which she repeats "Io sono Giorgia" — I am Giorgia — twice in Italian. That phrase is the title of her 2021 autobiography and comes from a well-known line she delivered at a political rally in 2019, which was later turned into a disco track.

According to the report, altered images and audio of Meloni have circulated online for years, with some users sharing them as though they were genuine. One such fake image showed her sitting on a bed in underwear. Meloni has publicly condemned this kind of content, saying its purpose is to spread false information and attack individuals, and has urged people to verify material before sharing it. She has also said that she is in a position to defend her own rights, but that many ordinary people are not.

The trademark application remains under examination at EUIPO. Italian media report that even if it is ultimately approved, the trademark alone would not be enough to fully stop others from using her voice to create AI-generated fake audio.