Matthew McConaughey has trademarked his image and voice to protect them from use by artificial intelligence platforms without permission.
Clips including his catchphrase “alright, alright, alright” from the 1993 film Dazed and Confused have been registered to the United States Patent and Trademark Office database, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
His lawyers and an expert said it is the first time an actor has attempted to use trademark law to protect their likeness from AI misuse.
Matthew McConaughey trademarks voice, image to protect against AI misuse
Stars across Hollywood and the music industry including Scarlett Johansson and Taylor Swift have endured a wave of fake video, audio and images online, created by AI tools.
Lawyers for the Magic Mike star told the WSJ they had no examples of McConaughey’s likeness being manipulated by AI, but hoped the trademarks could be used against any copies of him without permission.
“My team and I want to know that when my voice or likeness is ever used, it’s because I approved and signed off on it,” the actor said in an email. “We want to create a clear perimeter around ownership with consent and attribution the norm in an AI world.”
Clips were registered by the arm of the Just Keep Livin Foundation, a non-profit organisation created by the Dallas Buyers Club actor and his wife Camila, according to AFP.
McConaughey invests in AI voice company
However, McConaughey is not an opponent of generative AI. He has a stake in ElevenLabs, a software company specialising in AI voice modelling “for several years now”, according to the 56-year-old.
The company has created an AI audio version of the Interstellar actor, with his permission.
In 2024, Scarlett Johansson said she was left “shocked” and “angered” after OpenAI launched a chatbot with an “eerily similar” voice to her own.
OpenAI removed the voice, but insisted that it was not meant to be an “imitation” of the Avengers star.
In June 2025, Disney and Universal sued AI firm Midjourney over its image generator, which the Hollywood giants alleged was a “bottomless pit of plagiarism”.
Also last year, an AI video generator on Elon Musk’s X social media platform was accused of making “a deliberate choice” to create clips of Taylor Swift without prompting that were explicit.
