Longtime NPR host David Greene sues Google over NotebookLM voice

Source: TechCrunch

In Brief

Posted: 2:07 PM PST · February 15, 2026

Image Credits: RamKay / Getty Images

David Greene, the longtime host of NPR’s Morning Edition, is suing Google. He alleges that the male podcast voice in Google’s Notebook LM tool is based on his own voice, as reported by The Washington Post (link).

Greene said that after friends, family members, and coworkers began emailing him about the resemblance, he became convinced that the voice was replicating his cadence, intonation, and use of filler words like “uh.”

“My voice is, like, the most important part of who I am,” said Greene, who currently hosts the KCRW show Left, Right, & Center.

Google’s Notebook LM Voice

Among other features, Notebook LM allows users to generate a podcast with AI hosts (source). A company spokesperson told The Washington Post that the voice used in this product is unrelated to Greene’s:

“The sound of the male voice in Notebook LM’s Audio Overviews is based on a paid professional actor Google hired.”

Prior AI Voice Disputes

This isn’t the first dispute over AI voices resembling real people. In a notable example, OpenAI removed a ChatGPT voice after actress Scarlett Johansson complained that it was an imitation of her own voice (TechCrunch article).