Former NPR Host Sues Google Over AI Voice

David Greene

Former NPR host David Greene is suing Google, alleging the company's AI tool NotebookLM illegally replicated his distinctive voice for its synthetic male podcast host without his permission or compensation.

The lawsuit, filed January 23, 2026, in Santa Clara County Superior Court, California, claims Google violated his right of publicity and other laws by mimicking his delivery, cadence, intonation, persona, and even filler words like "uh" in the Audio Overviews feature—which generates podcast-style discussions from uploaded documents.

Greene, who co-hosted NPR's Morning Edition for about a decade until 2022 and now hosts the podcast Left, Right & Center on SoCal's KCRW (an NPR member station), said he was "completely freaked out" after discovering the resemblance in fall 2024. Friends, family, former colleagues, and listeners flooded him with messages—emails and texts—asking if he had licensed his voice to Google, with one former coworker emailing to confirm because it "sounds very much like you."

He described the similarity as "uncanny" and emphasized that his voice, built over decades of acclaimed radio work, is central to his professional identity and brand. Greene stressed he is not an "anti-AI activist" but called the unauthorized use "very weird" and troubling, amounting to exploitation of his identity. He seeks unspecified damages and an injunction to halt further use of the voice.

Google has denied the allegations, calling them baseless. A company spokesperson stated the male voice in NotebookLM's Audio Overviews is based on a paid professional actor hired by Google, not derived from Greene or any unauthorized source.

The case highlights growing debates over AI voice synthesis, training data ethics, right of publicity, and whether stylistic mimicry (without direct sampling) constitutes infringement, amid similar high-profile suits involving AI and creators or celebrities. No lawsuit involves NPR itself.