Otter.ai, the developer of a widely used artificial-intelligence transcription tool, has been hit with a proposed class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Filed on 15 Aug 2025 and assigned to Judge Eumi K. Lee, the Brewer v. Otter.ai complaint alleges that the company covertly records video-conference conversations without the consent of all participants and then uses those recordings to train its speech-recognition models. The suit claims violations of the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the California Invasion of Privacy Act and state unfair-competition statutes. Plaintiffs argue that Otter.ai shifts compliance responsibilities to customers by instructing them to secure permissions, thereby exposing employers to additional legal risk. While Otter.ai has not yet responded in court, the case underscores mounting concerns among corporations and law firms about whether AI productivity tools compromise privacy, data security and attorney-client privilege. Industry advisers say companies should tighten consent protocols, vet vendors’ data-retention practices and limit the use of AI notetakers in sensitive meetings as regulators and the judiciary scrutinize emerging workplace technologies.