Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni denied Thursday talking to Elon Musk about a cybersecurity deal with the American billionaire's SpaceX company following reports that sparked controversy in Italy.

Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni said her government is in talks with private companies, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX, over the country’s telecoms security system, but denied having discussed the issue

Italy is in advanced talks with Elon Musk's SpaceX over a 1.5 billion euro ($1.55 billion) deal for the company to provide secure telecommunications to the government, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday.