David Greene filed a lawsuit against Google last month claiming the company used his voice without permission to train NotebookLM, its AI-powered podcast generator.
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Key Takeaways
- Former NPR host David Greene sued Google for cloning his voice in NotebookLM.
- Greene says AI forensic analysis showed his voice was used to train the podcast tool.
- Case puts voice licensing and journalist consent at the center of AI training.
Greene, who hosted NPR’s “Morning Edition” for more than a decade, told the Washington Post he first learned about the issue when friends started asking if he’d licensed his voice to Google. NotebookLM generates podcast-like audio summaries with distinct male and female voices. Spotify used the tool in 2025 to create personalized “Spotify Wrapped” podcast episodes.
“I was, like, completely freaked out,” Greene told the Post. “It’s this eerie moment where you feel like you’re listening to yourself.”
Greene cited an AI forensic analysis that showed a 53 percent to 60 percent confidence rating that his voice was used to train the tool. Any rating above zero indicates the voices are similar, according to the Post. The lawsuit, filed in Santa Clara County, California, alleges Google trained the tool using his voice without compensating him.
Google denied the allegations. A company spokesperson told TheWrap the claims were “baseless” and that Google hired an actor to train NotebookLM.
Greene said part of his motivation for filing the suit was the surreal experience of hearing his voice without his participation. “My voice is, like, the most important part of who I am,” he said.
The case echoes Scarlett Johansson’s 2024 dispute with OpenAI after the company’s virtual assistant sounded similar to her voice despite her repeatedly refusing to license it. OpenAI eventually pulled the voice.
For newsrooms experimenting with AI audio tools for story summaries or podcast production, the lawsuit raises questions about voice licensing and whether synthetic voices trained on real journalists require explicit consent—even when companies claim they hired voice actors instead.