Former radio journalist sues Google, says AI tool cloned his voice without consent

Google

• David Greene sues Google for allegedly copying his voice in NotebookLM.
• Google denies claims, says voice is from a paid actor
• Case highlights growing concerns over AI voice rights and consent

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Former NPR host David Greene is suing Google, alleging that the tech giant copied his voice for use in its AI-powered research and summarisation tool, NotebookLM.

Greene, who hosted Morning Edition for eight years before leaving the network in 2020 and now co-hosts the political podcast Left, Right & Center, said he was “completely freaked out” after hearing NotebookLM’s audio summaries. Friends and family reportedly contacted him after mistaking the AI-generated voice for his own.

According to Greene, the similarity was strong enough that he decided to take legal action, accusing Google of violating his rights by replicating his voice without permission or compensation. He argues that the use of a soundalike voice could mislead listeners into believing he is personally involved in content he has never seen or endorsed.

Google has denied the allegations. In a statement, the company said the claims are “baseless” and insisted that the male voice used in NotebookLM’s audio overviews is based on a paid professional actor hired by Google. The company has not disclosed the identity of the actor.

The lawsuit adds to growing tensions between AI developers and creatives, as voice synthesis and generative audio tools become more advanced and more widely deployed. Greene has also raised concerns about how a voice resembling his own could be used to spread misinformation or conspiracy theories, with audiences potentially assuming he is responsible for views he does not hold.

The dispute echoes a high-profile controversy from 2024 involving Scarlett Johansson, who accused OpenAI of copying her voice for use in ChatGPT’s voice mode. Johansson said she had declined requests to license her voice and was alarmed when one of the chatbot’s voices sounded strikingly similar to hers and to her character in the film Her.

OpenAI denied intentionally mimicking Johansson and removed the voice, stating it belonged to a different professional actor. The incident nonetheless intensified scrutiny around voice rights and consent in AI systems.

In Greene’s case, unless a settlement is reached, a California court will ultimately decide whether Google infringed on his right to control the use of his voice or likeness, a ruling that could have wider implications for how AI companies design and deploy synthetic voices in the future.