Is it legal to make an AI clone of yourself?

Updated by AI Anyone Team

TL;DR

Generally, yes. The FBI says creating synthetic content is not inherently illegal, and the US laws in this area protect people from having their name, voice or likeness used without permission, or from being deceived. The questions that matter are who owns the material you build from, whether other people appear in it, what contracts you have signed, and whether the clone is clearly labeled as AI.

Making an AI clone of yourself from material you created and own is generally lawful in the United States. The laws that apply are aimed at other things: using someone else's identity without consent, copying work you do not own, and misleading or defrauding people. Copyright protects your recordings and writing, but the US Copyright Office says it does not protect a person's identity in itself, so rights in a voice or likeness come mainly from state right of publicity laws such as California Civil Code 3344 and Tennessee's ELVIS Act, and those laws differ from state to state. The FTC Act prohibits deceptive practices, and California makes it unlawful to use an undisclosed bot to mislead people about its artificial identity in order to make a sale or influence a vote. A federal bill, the NO FAKES Act of 2026, was placed on the Senate calendar on June 24, 2026 and had not become law as of September 13, 2026. This page is general information about US law, not legal advice, and these laws vary by state and keep changing.

Building it from your own material

Under federal copyright law, copyright belongs first to the author of a work (17 U.S.C. 201). For most people, that means the videos, posts, newsletters and podcast episodes they made themselves are theirs to use. There are common exceptions. When something is a work made for hire, the employer or the person it was prepared for is treated as the author and owns the copyright unless a signed written agreement says otherwise. The authors of a joint work are co-owners of it, and a show made with a co-host can be one. And a copyright, or any single right within it, can be transferred to someone else, such as a publisher.

Copyright has a limit that matters here. The Copyright Office's July 2024 report on digital replicas says copyright does not protect an individual's identity in itself, even when it appears in a work, and that a replica of someone's image or voice alone would not be copyright infringement. Rights in a voice or a face come from other laws, covered below.

Contracts can matter as much as copyright. A talent, recording, endorsement or employment agreement may give someone else rights in your name, voice or likeness, or limit how you use them, so what you have signed shapes what you can do with your own identity. The site where your material is hosted, and the service you build a clone with, each have terms of their own as well.

  • Material you wrote, filmed or recorded on your own: usually yours.
  • Work made for an employer or a client: may belong to them.
  • Episodes and interviews made with other people: may have co-owners, and carry other people's words and voices.
  • Clips, music and articles by other creators: owned by those creators.

When other people's voices or likenesses are involved

In the US, protection for a person's name, voice and likeness comes mostly from state right of publicity law. The Copyright Office's July 2024 report found that a majority of states recognize the right by statute, common law or both, that many of those laws reach only commercial uses such as advertising, endorsements and merchandise, and that the details differ considerably between states. It also found no federal statute focused solely on the use of a person's image, likeness or voice.

California Civil Code 3344 makes anyone who knowingly uses another person's name, voice, signature, photograph or likeness on products, or for advertising or selling, without that person's prior consent liable for the damages it causes. Uses connected with news, public affairs, sports or a political campaign do not need consent under that law.

Tennessee went further with the ELVIS Act, which took effect on July 1, 2024. It gives every individual a property right in the use of their name, photograph, voice and likeness in any medium, and it defines voice to include a simulation of it. It creates civil liability for making a person's voice or likeness available to the public knowing the use was not authorized, and for distributing technology whose primary purpose is producing a particular person's photograph, voice or likeness, knowing that was not authorized. Uses for news, commentary, criticism, scholarship, satire and parody count as fair use to the extent the First Amendment protects them.

At the federal level, the Copyright Office recommended that Congress create a right protecting everyone during their lifetime against the knowing distribution of unauthorized digital replicas. The NO FAKES Act of 2026 (S.4591), a bill to protect intellectual property rights in the voice and visual likeness of individuals, was introduced in the Senate on May 20, 2026. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to report it on June 18, and it was placed on the Senate calendar on June 24. A House bill with the same name (H.R.8915) was referred to the House Judiciary Committee on May 20. Neither had passed its chamber as of September 13, 2026.

For an AI version of yourself, these laws tend to show up at the edges: a guest's voice in an episode you use, someone else who appears in your videos, or a clip of another person's performance mixed into your material.

Disclosure and deception

The FTC Act prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce. In comments quoted in the Copyright Office report, the FTC said there is no AI exemption from the laws on the books, and that a digital replica mimicking a person's voice and likeness might be an unfair or deceptive practice, particularly if it deceives consumers.

The FTC's impersonation rule, in effect since April 1, 2024, makes it a violation to materially and falsely pose as a government agency or a business, or one of their officers. In February 2024 the FTC also proposed extending the rule to impersonating individuals. As of the September 10, 2026 update of the Code of Federal Regulations, the rule (16 CFR Part 461) still covers only government and business impersonation.

California's bot law makes it unlawful to use a bot to communicate with a person in California online, with the intent to mislead them about its artificial identity, in order to push a purchase or sale or to influence a vote in an election. A clear, conspicuous disclosure that it is a bot takes it outside that law. Separately, the FCC confirmed in February 2024 that AI-generated voices are artificial voices under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, so phone calls that use them need the called party's prior express consent unless an emergency purpose or an exemption applies.

What these rules share is a concern with misleading people about who, or what, they are dealing with. A clone that is plainly labeled as AI speaks to that concern directly.

Voice cloning scams

Fraud is illegal whatever tool it uses. The FTC warns that a scammer can take a short audio clip of a family member's voice, which may be posted online, and use AI to call sounding like that person and asking for money. The FBI's December 2024 public service announcement draws the legal line plainly: creating or distributing synthetic content is not inherently illegal, but it can be used to commit crimes such as fraud and extortion.

Calls to an AI Anyone clone use a voice picked for the character, not a copy of the creator's voice. A clone is a chat character at its own share link, which signed-in visitors can also call in the browser.

  • The FBI suggests agreeing on a secret word or phrase with your family to check who is really calling.
  • The FTC's guidance is not to trust the voice alone: hang up and call back on a number you know is theirs.
  • Requests to wire money, send cryptocurrency or buy gift cards are warning signs the FTC names.
  • Fraud can be reported to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, or to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.

Likeness rights after death

In some states, rights in a person's name, voice and likeness continue after they die, and this is where state law varies most. The Copyright Office's July 2024 report counted 27 states with post-mortem publicity rights, 19 by statute and 8 by common law, with terms running from two decades in Virginia to 100 years in Indiana, and indefinitely in Tennessee for as long as the right keeps being used.

California treats these rights as property that can be transferred or inherited, for a person whose name, voice, signature, photograph or likeness had commercial value at or because of their death, and no claim can be brought for a use more than 70 years after the death. A 2024 amendment added liability for producing, distributing or making available a digital replica of that person's voice or likeness in an expressive audiovisual work or sound recording without the required consent, with exceptions for uses such as news, commentary, criticism, satire, parody and documentary or biographical works.

In Tennessee, the exclusive right runs for ten years after death and then continues until it goes unused commercially for two years. New York protects performers who were domiciled in the state when they died against the knowing, unauthorized use of a digital replica in audiovisual works, sound recordings and live musical performances, for 40 years after death.

For anyone building an AI version of themselves, the practical point is that in some states the rights in a person's own name, voice and likeness can outlast them, passing by will or contract, or to family members named by state law.

The rules AI Anyone applies to clones

Any AI Anyone account can build a clone from the clone page. Building is free, and the clone is live at its own share link in a few minutes.

A clone on AI Anyone is always a clone of the account holder: it is named after them, and the rule is that it is built only from content they own. Before a build starts, the creator ticks a confirmation that reads: "I'm the creator or owner of this content and I have the right to clone it. Impersonation clones get removed." The build does not run without it, and launching the clone requires it too.

Disclosure on AI Anyone is a label on the chat itself. Every clone chat shows a label that cannot be dismissed, reading "AI clone of", then the creator's name, then "Not the real person." The label has a Report button whose reasons include impersonating someone and copyright violation, and reporting needs a signed-in account. Clones that impersonate someone else are removed.

AI Anyone's Terms of Service say you retain ownership of the characters and content you create. They prohibit publishing content that infringes others' intellectual property, misrepresenting AI-generated content as real communications from actual people, and engaging in fraud or deceptive practices. If you believe a character uses your name, image, voice or likeness without permission, the Terms ask you to report it to support@aianyone.com for review. A creator can also unpublish their clone at any time, which stops it serving chats.

General information, not legal advice

This page describes US law in general terms as it stood on September 13, 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create a lawyer and client relationship. Laws on voices, likenesses and digital replicas differ by state, change often, and turn on facts this page cannot see, such as where you live, what you have signed and how a clone is used. For a question about your own situation, a lawyer licensed in your state can give an answer that fits it. Outside the United States, different rules apply.

How we know

Frequently asked questions

Is cloning myself illegal?

Not in itself. We are not aware of any US law that bans making an AI version of yourself from material you created, and the FBI notes that creating synthetic content is not inherently illegal. Legal problems usually come from something around the clone instead: material someone else owns, other people's voices or likenesses in it, a contract that gives someone else rights in your likeness, or using the clone to mislead or defraud people.

Is voice cloning illegal?

Voice cloning as a technology is not banned outright, but consent and use decide a lot. Using another person's voice without permission can create liability under state publicity laws, including Tennessee's ELVIS Act, which covers simulated voices. The FCC treats AI-generated voices as artificial voices under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, so calls that use them need prior express consent unless an exemption applies. And using a cloned voice to trick someone into sending money is exactly the scheme the FTC and the FBI warn about and ask people to report.

Can I use other creators' clips, or a guest's words from my podcast, in my clone?

Other creators' videos, articles and music belong to them, and an interview or co-hosted episode contains other people's words and voices, so using that material can raise copyright and right of publicity questions. On AI Anyone the answer is simpler: a clone is built only from content its creator owns, and the creator confirms that before the build starts.

Is the NO FAKES Act law yet?

No, not as of September 13, 2026. The NO FAKES Act of 2026 (S.4591) was reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee and placed on the Senate calendar on June 24, 2026, and a House bill with the same name (H.R.8915) is with the House Judiciary Committee. It would create federal protection for the voice and visual likeness of individuals. Until a version passes both chambers and is signed, that protection comes mainly from state law.

What if someone uses my voice or likeness without permission?

On AI Anyone, you can report a clone with the Report button in its chat while signed in, or report any character that uses your name, image, voice or likeness to support@aianyone.com, as the Terms of Service describe. If someone is using a cloned version of your voice to scam people, the FTC takes reports at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI at ic3.gov. Whether you have a legal claim depends on your state's publicity law and the facts, which is a question for a lawyer licensed in your state.

Can I make an AI clone of someone else, like a relative who died?

No. AI Anyone only builds a clone of the account holder, from content that account holder owns, and clones that impersonate someone else are removed. The reason is consent. A clone speaks under a real person's name, and only that person can agree to that, see what it says and take it down. Wanting to hear from someone you have lost is deeply human, and AI Anyone clones are not built to do that.

More guides to AI clones

Where to go next

Make an AI clone of yourself