Manipulated images of Georgia Meloni have repeatedly circulated online in recent years and have at times been shared as authentic, including one depicting her sitting on a bed in her underwear. (EPA Images pic)

ROME: Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has applied to the EU 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 Oct 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.