Former NPR radio host David Greene has initiated a lawsuit claiming that Google’s AI technology has utilized his voice without proper consent. Greene filed the suit in California on January 23, asserting that Google appropriated his vocal characteristics to enhance its NotebookLM AI product.

“I was, like, completely freaked out… It’s this eerie moment where you feel like you’re listening to yourself.”
Translation: Greene expressed that the experience was unsettlingly akin to hearing his own voice.

According to reports, Greene’s attorney contends that the lawsuit stems from deliberate theft by Google, using Greene’s distinctive voice characteristic developed over years of professional broadcasting to create a synthetic audio output.

While there is no conclusive evidence yet that confirms Greene’s voice was part of the training dataset for Google’s AI, the outcome of this case may set a significant precedent regarding the permissible data usage by AI companies and the responsibilities they bear towards content creators. Google has dismissed these allegations as unfounded.