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NOPE
Low reported severity Internal Action

Guanajuato, Mexico: León announcer Diego Carreto says a state-distributed Vendimias Guanajuato tourism ad used an AI clone of his voice that he never recorded or was paid for; the state tourism secretariat asks the producing agency to explain

On 25 September 2026 Diego Carreto, a 26-year-old commercial announcer from León, Guanajuato, published a video saying that a promotional spot for Vendimias Guanajuato 2026, produced by a private agency and distributed by the state Secretaría de Turismo e Identidad, used his voice although he never recorded it, never worked with the agency and was never contacted. He showed segments of the spot and repeated the same lines himself. He believes his public voice demo was fed into a generative-AI system, and asked for removal of all material with his voice, payment for its use, legal action against those responsible and deletion of his biometric data. He says the spot ran nationally, and within Guanajuato on radio, on state government social media and on the Visit México platform. The secretariat said it rejects any unauthorised use of a person's voice or image, including with AI tools, and asked the producing company to clarify what happened. AI use has not been confirmed.

AI system
Unidentified voice-cloning tool (suspected)
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
27 September 2026
Event location
Mexico
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Professional HarmOther Material Harm
Whose AI use
An institution’s AI use
Setting
Work
Evidence
AI involvement suspected · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 2 underlying accounts
4 claims: 4 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: A voice attributed by the announcer to generative-AI cloning, used in an advertisement produced by a private agency for the Guanajuato state tourism secretariat; the tool and its use are unconfirmed

What Happened

Periódico AM (27 September 2026) reports that Carreto published his complaint on 25 September, that the spot for Vendimias de Guanajuato was made by a private agency and distributed by the state tourism secretariat, and that he never worked for the spot, the agency or the secretariat. He learned of it when an acquaintance sent him the spot, and he demonstrated it was his voice by repeating its phrases. He says the spot aired nationally (he saw it in Puebla and Mexico City) and within the state on radio, on state government and secretariat social media and on Visit México; AM found it had been removed from the secretariat's X account. Carreto believes his public demo was used to feed generative AI and notes that a May 2026 amendment to Mexico's Federal Copyright Law protects performers' voices, including AI-generated results. Ahora Mx quotes him saying the government used his voice for a national campaign without contacting him and reports his three demands plus deletion of his biometric data. Periódico Correo and Conexión Turística quote the secretariat's communiqué rejecting unauthorised use of a person's voice or image, including with AI tools, and asking the production company to clarify and respond.

Reported harm

A commercial announcer says his voice was reproduced, which he attributes to AI cloning, and used without consent or payment in a nationally broadcast state tourism advertisement (Carreto via Periódico AM and Ahora Mx).

Outcome

Ongoing

The Secretaría de Turismo e Identidad of Guanajuato issued a communiqué rejecting unauthorised use of voices or images and asked the producing company to clarify and respond (Periódico Correo; Conexión Turística). Carreto says the government contacted him through social media to start talks (Ahora Mx). AM found the spot no longer on the secretariat's X account on 27 September.

What remains unknown

  • How the voice was produced; the agency's account.
  • Whether he has been paid or a legal complaint filed.
  • Whether the spot has been withdrawn from all channels.
  • When the spot was produced and first aired; it was circulating before his complaint of 25 September 2026.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: suspected. Carreto says the voice in the spot is his and that he never recorded it; he infers that his public demo fed a generative-AI system and notes that the agency advertises AI services (Periódico AM; Ahora Mx). The state secretariat's communiqué refers to AI tools without confirming their use (Periódico Correo). No technical analysis is reported.

4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported A promotional spot for Vendimias Guanajuato, produced by a private agency and distributed by the Guanajuato state tourism secretariat, used a voice that the León commercial announcer Diego Carreto says is his although he never recorded it or worked for the agency or the secretariat.

Causal attribution. His account. That the voice was made with generative AI is his inference; neither the agency nor the secretariat has confirmed how it was produced.

  • am.com.mx(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'El locutor comercial Diego Carreto denunció que en un spot promocional de las Vendimias de Guanajuato, elaborado por una empresa privada, pero difundido por la Secretaría de Turismo del Estado, se utilizó su voz sin su autorización, pues él nunca trabajó ni para ese spot, ni para esa empresa, ni para la Secretaría de Turismo.'
  • ahoramx.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    '“El gobierno utilizó un anuncio para una campaña nacional con mi voz, cuando yo no fui contactado para esa campaña, no la grabé”.'
Reported Carreto believes his public voice demo was used to train or feed a generative-AI voice system, and he asked for removal of the material, payment for the use of his voice, legal action against those responsible and deletion of his biometric data.

Causal attribution. His stated belief about the method and his demands.

  • am.com.mx(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'Por lo tanto, al ser público, supuso que su demo fue parte del material que se utilizó para alimentar a la inteligencia artificial generativa.'
  • ahoramx.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'Pido tres cosas: la remuneración por mi trabajo, porque es mi voz. El que se dé de baja todo el material que yo no grabé”, además de la eliminación de sus datos biométricos.'
Reported Carreto says the spot circulated nationally (he saw it in Puebla and Mexico City) and was distributed within Guanajuato on radio, on the social media of the state tourism secretariat and the state government, and on the Visit México platform; AM found it no longer on the secretariat's X account on 27 September.

Causal attribution. Distribution as described by Carreto; the removal from X is AM's own check.

  • am.com.mx(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'El spot ya se difundió a nivel nacional, dijo él mismo, y en entrevista con AM precisó que lo vio en Puebla y en la Ciudad de México.'; 'También señaló que el spot se difundió a nivel estatal en la radio, en las redes sociales de la Secretaría de Turismo del Estado de Guanajuato y del Gobierno de Guanajuato, así como en la plataforma oficial de promoción turística de México, llamada Visit México.'; 'AM verificó este domingo y el spot ya no estaba en la cuenta de X de la Sectur estatal.'
Reported The state Secretaría de Turismo e Identidad said it rejects any unauthorised use of a person's voice or image, including with AI tools, and asked the production company to clarify what happened, respond to the complaint and deal with the situation as appropriate.

Causal attribution. The secretariat did not confirm or deny that his voice was cloned.

  • periodicocorreo.com.mx(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    '“Rechazamos cualquier uso indebido de la voz o imagen de una persona, incluido el uso de herramientas de inteligencia artificial sin la autorización correspondiente”.'
  • conxionturistica.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'hemos solicitado de manera inmediata a la empresa responsable de su producción que aclare lo ocurrido, responda al planteamiento y atienda la situación conforme corresponda'

Sources

4 sources inspected, from 2 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read live in Spanish on 2026-09-29 (Periódico AM, 27 September 2026). Interview with Carreto plus AM's own checks. Researcher translation. Applies to s1.

Read live in Spanish on 2026-09-29 (Ahora Mx interview). Researcher translation. Applies to s2.

Read live in Spanish on 2026-09-29 (Periódico Correo, 27 September 2026); quotes the Secretaría de Turismo e Identidad communiqué. Researcher translation. Applies to s3.

Read live in Spanish on 2026-09-29; relays the same communiqué. Researcher translation. Applies to s4.

Event countries: Mexico. Affected-person countries: Mexico. Court countries: Unknown.

The spot was commissioned for the Guanajuato state tourism campaign and broadcast in Mexico; Carreto lives in León, Guanajuato (Periódico AM).

Reviewed for publication 2026-09-29: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a core case (a professional's voice reproduced without consent in a government-distributed advertisement, which he attributes to AI cloning). The account is his, reported by several Mexican outlets; the state tourism secretariat's response is recorded. AI use is suspected, not established.

People described

Diego Carreto, a commercial announcer and content creator from León, Guanajuato

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One person, the announcer whose voice was used (Periódico AM). Exact 1.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#voice-cloning#voice-actor#government-advertising#guanajuato#mexico#unauthorised-use

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Guanajuato, Mexico: León announcer Diego Carreto says a state-distributed Vendimias Guanajuato tourism ad used an AI clone of his voice that he never recorded or was paid for; the state tourism secretariat asks the producing agency to explain. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-guanajuato-vendimias-spot-announcer-voice-ai-clone-carreto

BibTeX

@misc{2026_guanajuato_vendimias_spot_announcer_voice_ai_clone_carreto,
  title = {Guanajuato, Mexico: León announcer Diego Carreto says a state-distributed Vendimias Guanajuato tourism ad used an AI clone of his voice that he never recorded or was paid for; the state tourism secretariat asks the producing agency to explain},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-guanajuato-vendimias-spot-announcer-voice-ai-clone-carreto}
}

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