NPR Host David Greene Sues Google Over NotebookLM Voice Similarity

Quick Facts

• David Greene filed lawsuit in Santa Clara County court claiming Google’s NotebookLM male podcast voice replicates his without consent
• AI forensic analysis showed 53-60% confidence that the voice model was trained on Greene’s recordings
• Google denies allegations, stating the voice comes from a paid professional actor

David Greene, longtime host of NPR’s Morning Edition, filed a lawsuit against Google on February 15, alleging the company’s NotebookLM AI tool uses his voice without permission or payment.

The lawsuit centers on NotebookLM’s Audio Overviews feature, which generates podcast-style conversations between two AI hosts. Greene claims the male voice sounds identical to his own distinctive broadcast style.

The case emerged after multiple people, including a former NPR coworker, contacted Greene in fall 2024 asking if he had licensed his voice to Google. Greene described feeling “completely freaked out” when listening to the AI voice.

“My voice is, like, the most important part of who I am,” said Greene, who now hosts KCRW’s Left, Right, & Center. “It’s this eerie moment where you feel like you’re listening to yourself.”

Greene’s legal team commissioned an AI forensic firm to analyze the voice similarity. The analysis produced a confidence score of 53-60% that Google’s model was trained on Greene’s voice recordings. The forensic company’s CEO concluded it was their “confident opinion that the Google Podcast model was trained on David Greene’s voice.”

Google firmly denies the allegations. Company spokesperson José Castañeda called the claims “baseless” and stated that “the sound of the male voice in NotebookLM’s Audio Overviews is based on a paid professional actor Google hired.”

The lawsuit represents a significant test case for AI voice rights. NotebookLM became a viral hit in 2024, with Spotify incorporating the tool into its signature Wrapped feature in December. While Google has not disclosed user numbers, the feature emerged as a key product in its competition with OpenAI for consumer attention.

Legal experts say the case echoes previous voice rights disputes. Professor James Grimmelmann of Cornell University noted similarities to the 1988 Bette Midler case, where the singer successfully sued Ford Motor Company over a commercial using a voice actor to mimic her distinctive sound.

The case also recalls OpenAI’s 2024 controversy with Scarlett Johansson, who complained that ChatGPT’s “Sky” voice imitated her performance in the film Her. OpenAI subsequently removed the voice.

Greene’s lawyer, Joshua Michelangelo Stein from Boies Schiller Flexner, expressed confidence in the case. “We have faith in the court and encourage people to listen to the example audio themselves,” Stein said.

The lawsuit raises broader questions about AI training practices and consent. Language models like those powering NotebookLM are trained on vast libraries of human speech and writing, often without explicit permission from the original creators.

Read more: Longtime NPR host David Greene sues Google over NotebookLM voice