Google AI Customer Service Privacy Lawsuit Gets Doubtful Judge

A federal judge overseeing a proposed class action claiming Google LLC unlawfully eavesdropped on customer support calls for a variety of businesses, then used those recorded conversations to train its AI, appeared dubious Tuesday of the lawsuit’s merits.

Judge Rita Lin of the US District Court for the Northern District of California questioned whether the California Invasion of Privacy Act, a decades-old state wiretapping law, would cover Google’s alleged recording of the calls.

The judge, at a San Francisco hearing, said consumers calling into the customer support lines for companies like Uber, HomeDepot, Hulu, and Verizon have consented to having …