NPR's Radio Host David Greene Says Google's NotebookLM Tool Stole His Voice

Source: Slashdot

Background

An anonymous reader quoted a report from The Washington Post noting that David Greene, a veteran public‑radio host who has anchored NPR’s “Morning Edition” and co‑hosted KCRW’s political podcast “Left, Right & Center,” was unaware of Google’s AI tool NotebookLM until a former colleague emailed him in fall 2024 asking, “Did you license your voice to Google? It sounds very much like you!”

Greene explored the tool and listened to its two virtual co‑hosts—a male and a female—engage in light banter. He described the experience as “completely freaked out,” saying the male voice matched his cadence, intonation, and even the occasional “uhhs” and “likes” he had spent years trying to minimize. He played the clip for his wife, whose reaction confirmed his suspicion.

Lawsuit Details

Following a wave of emails and texts from friends, family, and coworkers asking whether the AI‑generated podcast voice was his, Greene filed a lawsuit against Google. He alleges that Google violated his rights by building a product that replicated his voice without payment or permission, giving users the ability to make the voice say things he would never say.

Google responded to The Washington Post stating that NotebookLM’s male podcast voice is unrelated to Greene. The case may soon be heard in a Santa Clara County, California, court, which will decide whether the resemblance is strong enough that an ordinary listener would assume it is Greene’s voice and, if so, what remedies are appropriate.

Greene’s lawsuit cites an unnamed AI forensic firm that used its software to compare the artificial voice to his recordings. The analysis produced a confidence rating of 53‑60 % that Greene’s voice was used to train the model, which the firm described as “relatively high” confidence.

Read the full Washington Post article

Reactions

Mike Pesca, host of “The Gist” podcast and a former NPR colleague of Greene, said, “If I was David Greene I would be upset, not just because they stole my voice, but because they used it to make the podcasting equivalent of AI ‘slop.’ They have banter, but it’s very surface‑level, un‑insightful banter, and they’re always saying, ‘Yeah, that’s so interesting.’ It’s really bad, because what do we as show hosts have except our taste in commentary and pointing our audience to that which is interesting?”