Discussion

• @carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on bluesky

  You know how NotebookLM can summarize any content in the form of an NPR-style podcast?  Well, a former NPR host David Greene noticed and is suing Google for replicating his voice without permission.  —  The company's response is that it used a paid voice actor.

• @annabookwriter Anna Holmes on bluesky

  A friend here informed me that the train company stole the voice of a voice actor friend of the family, and now every time the bland AI voice announces the stop I get furious.  —  Her mum is a voice coach—dialect, mostly, but a bit of singing.  When your voice is your livelihood,…

• @samthielman.com @samthielman.com on bluesky

  This stuff offends me on, like, a cellular level [embedded post]

• @newsjennifer @newsjennifer on bluesky

  holy sh*t. listen to the voice samples in this piece.  what the hell google?  (gift link below) [embedded post]

• @treblaw Treb on bluesky

  if you use these tools you're stealing from talented people [embedded post]

• @brutumfulmen @brutumfulmen on bluesky

  It seems like they absolutely stole it.  They steal lots of things.  [embedded post]

• @shiraovide Shira Ovide on bluesky

  Worth listening to the real David Greene voice and a Google sound-alike.  —  Bonus reference to a legal case involving Bette Midler and a Ford commercial.  [embedded post]

• @jeradwalker Jerad Walker on bluesky

  Sadly, this isn't even without precedent.  Scarlett Johansson sued OpenAI in 2024, alleging that ChatGPT's virtual assistant Sky was modeled on her voice.  [embedded post]

• @willoremus.com Will Oremus on bluesky

  NEW: David Greene was the voice of NPR's “Morning Edition.”  Is he also secretly the voice of Google's popular AI podcast tool, NotebookLM?  —  Google says no. Greene thinks they're lying.  My story today breaks the news of his lawsuit and compares the two voices.  Listen for you…

• @acarv.in Andy Carvin on bluesky

  There is no way this is a coincidence.  I worked with David at @npr.org, and NotebookLM sounds *precisely* like him, including his conversational cadence.

• r/NPR r on reddit

  He spent decades perfecting his voice.  Now he says Google stole it.

• @willoremus Will Oremus on x

  David Greene was the voice of NPR's “Morning Edition.” Is he also secretly the voice of Google's AI podcast tool, NotebookLM? Google says no. Greene doesn't believe them. Now he's suing. My story today: [image]

• @defnotbeka Rebecca Valentine on x

  i love this, because if you listen to David Greene, he got the most typical, uninteresting, neutral guy voice you can imagine. nothing about it is unique or stand out

• @eilperin Juliet Eilperin on x

  Many public radio — including myself — have spent years listening to David Greene. Now he's suing Google, claiming that the company stole its voice to make its AI podcast tool sound better. By @WillOremus https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

• @ryp__ Robert Young Pelton on x

  This is quite problematic. Thankfully the AI pirates do not want my mumbles https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

• @mollyhf Molly Hennessy-Fiske on x

  Omg! I know this voice: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

• @lumoherdaui Luciana Moherdaui on x

  NPR's David Greene says he was “completely freaked out” when he heard an AI voice that sounded just like his own, and he's suing over it: https://washingtonpost.com/...

• @rotopat Patrick Daugherty on x

  “Google's AI podcast tool” lol