Longtime NPR host David Greene has filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging the company’s NotebookLM tool illegally replicated his voice. Greene claims the AI’s “Audio Overviews” feature mimics his specific vocal and it is used without consent, including his cadence and verbal tics.
According to The Washington Times, the complaint, filed yesterday in Santa Clara County Superior Court, claims that Google’s “Audio Overviews” feature which generates conversational podcasts from text, uses a male voice that is a near-perfect replica of Greene’s. The veteran journalist, known for Morning Edition and Left, Right & Center, says he was “completely freaked out” after being bombarded with messages from colleagues asking if he had licensed his voice to Google.
While Greene’s legal team presented forensic analysis showing a high confidence match, Google has dismissed the claims as “baseless”, asserting the voice belongs to a paid professional actor. This case marks a critical moment for “Right of Publicity” in the era of generative AI, as it coincides with the introduction of the NO FAKES Act in the U.S., which aims to protect individuals from unauthorized digital replicas.
