Tech giants sued over ‘stealing’ voices of well-known journalists, voice actors to train AI
Tech giants sued over ‘stealing’ voices of well-known journalists, voice actors to train AI
Publish Date: 2026-05-15 17:44:00
Source Domain: capitolnewsillinois.com
- Nine class-action lawsuits have been filed by a group of well-known Chicago journalists, podcasters, and voice actors accusing major tech companies of using their voices without permission to train AI products.
- The lawsuits highlight a new legal focus for Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), which has previously resulted in several high-profile settlements, mostly concerning the unauthorized collection of employee fingerprints.
- Plaintiffs include retired NBC 5 news journalists Carol Marin and Phil Rogers, alongside podcasters and audiobook narrators who allege companies like Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft, and others “stole” their voices for training AI models.
- The lawsuits claim that these companies ignored BIPA requirements, which mandate written consent before collecting biometric information, and that the individuals were not given the opportunity to consent to using their voice data.
- The case may set a precedent for future BIPA lawsuits, as it pertains to the emerging and rapidly developing field of AI, potentially marking a significant expansion of the law’s application.
