Journalists Sue Google Over Unauthorized Voice Recordings Used in AI Training
A group of journalists, podcasters and audiobook narrators filed a class action lawsuit against Google in Illinois federal court Monday, accusing the company of using thousands of hours of their voice recordings without permission to train AI systems including Google Assistant and Gemini Live.
The plaintiffs include Chicago journalist Carol Marin and Pulitzer Prize winners Yohance Lacour and Alison Flowers. They claim Google scraped the internet for voice recordings and used them to power systems that replicate human voices.
The lawsuit alleges Google violated Illinois publicity and biometric data privacy rights. Plaintiffs are seeking unspecified monetary damages.
What the lawsuit alleges
Google targeted recordings that matched what its own documentation identifies as optimal training audio: long-form, single-speaker, studio-quality, professionally produced speech. The plaintiffs' voices fit that profile exactly.
The company did not seek consent from any of the speakers before using their recordings.
Part of a broader pattern
This case joins dozens of lawsuits brought by authors, news outlets and others against tech companies for allegedly using their work without permission to train AI systems.
Former NPR host David Greene sued Google separately in California in January over alleged misuse of his voice in AI training. Voice actors have brought similar allegations against AI voiceover startup Lovo in an ongoing New York lawsuit.
Google and the plaintiffs' attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.
The case details
Case name: Marin v. Alphabet Inc
Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Case number: 1:26-cv-05436
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