The Guardian — Technology · October 25, 2026 · On the brief until November 8, 2026

‘Synthetic twin’: Why Socceroo Cristian Volpato is the latest footballer to license his AI clone

Intellectual Property LawMarketing

THE AI ANGLE

generating synthetic athlete clones for brand endorsements

Professional athletes are licensing their digital likenesses, voices, and biometric data to create synthetic twins for commercial promotions. Marketers can run ongoing global campaigns without scheduling real photo shoots. For legal teams, this practice challenges intellectual property frameworks because copyright does not protect AI reproductions.

Summary written by AI Business Lens with an AI model from the article at theguardian.com. It is not the article, and the publisher has not reviewed it. For publishers.

THE TEACHING ANGLE

Instructors can explore whether current passing off laws adequately protect sports endorsements given that plaintiffs must prove financial loss to stop unauthorized digital likenesses.

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‘Synthetic twin’: Why Socceroo Cristian Volpato is the latest footballer to license his AI clone

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