Taylor Swift wants to trademark her voice and image. What will it mean for AI?
Taylor Swift has reportedly filed to trademark her voice and image, in a move that could give her legal standing against AI deepfakes.
According to Reuters, the pop superstar submitted applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Friday, for two audio files — "Hey, it’s Taylor Swift," and "Hey, it’s Taylor" — and an image of Swift onstage. The trademark owner is reportedly listed as Swift's TAS Rights Management. Hollywood star Matthew McConoughey made a similar move in January.
It's a landmark moment of potential empowerment for Swift, who has been plagued with AI-generated deepfake videos and images over the last few years. In Jan. 2024, sexualised AI-generated images of Swift went viral on X, prompting hundreds of millions of views and fan outrage. In Aug. 2025, unauthorised chatbots on Meta impersonated Swift and other celebrities making sexual advances.
The filing could also have political repercussions. In Aug. 2024, Donald Trump posted a deepfake on social media falsely suggesting that Swift and her fans backed the Republican presidential nominee.
Nonconsensual AI-generated images have become a colossal problem — and for Elon Musk's X, in particular, with the platform's AI tool Grok being used to create a wave of sexualised and violent deepfakes — including those of children. In early 2026, X finally offered more protections against these deepfakes. However, several investigations were launched globally including in the UK, Europe, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and India, suspecting criminal offences.
As of April 2026, X is still under investigation in France for (per the BBC) "complicity in possession or organised distribution of child sexual abuse material, infringement of people's image rights with sexual deepfakes and suspected fraudulent data extraction by an organised group." Musk's xAI is also facing a lawsuit from teens in California for the creation of sexually explicit images.
Swift has not taken legal action against X for deepfakes to date.
In general, we're moving into unchartered waters with real humans trademarking their own likeness to protect themselves against AI clones and deepfakes — and it's getting awkward in Hollywood.
Shannon Connellan is Mashable's Senior Editor, General Assignments, based in London. She has been Mashable's UK Editor (and still manages the illustrious UK team) and Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives searching for Exit 8. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror, and loves to nerd out with movie stars, filmmakers, and TV creators.
