Tech giants face lawsuits over unauthorized AI voice training data

Major technology companies, including Apple, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, Samsung, Google, Adobe, and ElevenLabs, are facing class-action lawsuits in a Chicago federal court. The legal actions allege that these firms harvested voice recordings from journalists, podcasters, and voice actors to train artificial intelligence models without obtaining required permission or disclosure.

The lawsuits, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, primarily invoke the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The plaintiffs argue that voiceprints constitute biometric data—comparable to fingerprints or facial scans—and that the companies failed to secure written consent or provide required information regarding data collection and destruction policies.

Named plaintiffs include Chicago journalist Carol Marin and Pulitzer Prize winners Yohance Lacour and Alison Flowers. Legal representatives from the firm Loevy & Loevy have characterized the alleged conduct as a massive violation of biometric privacy, claiming a billion-dollar industry has been built on what they describe as “stolen voices.”