Tech giants sued under Illinois biometric privacy law for voice data used in AI training
Nine major tech companies face class-action lawsuits in Illinois federal court alleging they collected thousands of hours of voice recordings from journalists, podcasters and narrators without consent to train AI systems, violating the state's biometric privacy law.
What happened
Class-action lawsuits were filed in federal court for the Northern District of Illinois between May 12 and May 14, 2026, against nine tech companies including Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Samsung, Adobe and ElevenLabs.
The plaintiffs, represented by the firm Loevy & Loevy, allege the defendants collected thousands of hours of recorded human voices from journalists, podcasters, and audiobook narrators without permission to train AI systems.
The lawsuits invoke Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), arguing that voiceprints constitute biometric data requiring written consent before collection.
Reported impact
Ross Kimbarovsky of Loevy & Loevy stated each defendant faces hundreds of millions of dollars in potential damages.
The legal team described the alleged conduct as potentially one of the largest violations of biometric privacy ever committed, contending that a billion-dollar industry has been constructed on what they call 'stolen voices.'
Index analysis
The plaintiffs argue the companies failed to implement any compliant consent systems under BIPA, alleging the defendants did not even attempt to obtain written permission before collecting voice data.
BIPA requires companies to develop a written policy for destroying biometric data and prohibits selling it. After 2024 amendments, violations carry penalties of $1,000 for negligent violations or $5,000 for intentional or reckless violations, applied per victim and for each subsection violated.
Governance controls
The lawsuits cite violations of BIPA requirements for written consent, policy development, and data handling, as well as state laws governing publicity, consumer fraud and deceptive practices.
The nine cases were initially spread among seven different judges at the Chicago court; Apple requested consolidation before a single judge.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.