Tech giants sued over ‘stealing’ voices of well-known journalists, voice actors to train AI
Nine class-action lawsuits allege tech giants illegally used voices of journalists and voice actors to train AI without consent.Summary
A group of Chicago-based journalists, podcasters, and voice actors have filed nine class-action lawsuits against major tech companies, including Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Meta, accusing them of illegally using their voices to train AI models. The plaintiffs argue that this constitutes a massive violation of Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), which requires companies to obtain written consent before collecting biometric data. The lawsuits claim the companies ingested voice recordings without notice or permission, treating voiceprints as unique identifiers that cannot be altered or recovered once stolen. Legal experts suggest these cases could set a significant precedent for biometric privacy law, following a trend of BIPA litigation that has previously focused on fingerprints and facial recognition.
(Source：Shaw Local Enewspapers)