Google responds to claim that it stole David Greene’s voice

Radio host David Greene is suing Google, alleging the tech giant copied his voice for its NotebookLM AI tool, the Washington Post and others reported it – and Google responded.

Greene is the former co-host of NPR’s Morning edition and currently the host of Left, right and center podcast from NPR member station KCRW. Greene learned about NotebookLM, which automatically generates podcasts, from a former colleague and was “completely freaked out,” he told the Job.

The complaint, filed Jan. 23 in California, says Google “sought to replicate Mr. Greene’s distinctive voice — a voice made iconic through decades of decorated radio and public commentary — to create synthetic audio products that mimic his delivery, cadence and personality.” The suit claims Google violated California’s statutory and common law rights of publicity, which relate to unauthorized uses of a person’s likeness, as well as California’s unfair competition law. It also alleges that Google unfairly benefited from Greene’s voice.

Google said Job and other publications that NotebookLM has nothing to do with Greene. “These allegations are baseless,” Google spokesperson José Castañeda told Gizmodo. “The male voice sound in NotebookLM audio previews is based on a paid professional voice actor hired by Google.”

The use of image of people in AI models, as well as the use of copyrighted materials to train models, has been a controversial topic in recent years. In 2024, OpenAI removed its AI-powered voice, Sky, after allegations that she resembled Scarlett Johansson, who had explicitly not given the company permission to use her likeness. Several lawsuits have been launched against major tech and AI companies that use copyrighted material to train their AI.

Last January, major artists, including Johansson, launched a campaign against AI waste and theft.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, the parent company of Mashable, filed a lawsuit in April 2025 against OpenAI, alleging that it had violated Ziff Davis’ copyrights in the training and operation of its AI systems.