National Advertising Division Recommends Starkey Laboratories Modify or Discontinue Certain Omega AI Hearing Aid Claims
Following a challenge by Sonova USA Inc., BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division recommended that Starkey
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New York, NY, Sept. 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Following a challenge by Sonova USA Inc., BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division recommended that Starkey Laboratories, Inc. modify or discontinue certain advertising claims for its Omega AI hearing aid, including certain claims concerning speech intelligibility, spatial awareness, competitive performance, and “better hearing all around,” as well as modify its claim that it is “the leader in hearing healthcare.”
Sonova and Starkey are competitors in the prescription hearing aid market. Starkey’s Omega AI hearing aid includes its “always on” Deep Neural Network (DNN) AI technology. Consumers obtain hearing aids like Omega AI through audiologists and other hearing care professionals. The claims at issue appear in Starkey’s Technical Product Handbook, professional pamphlets, starkeypro.com website, a press release, and social media posts.
In evaluating Starkey’s substantiation, the National Advertising Division (NAD) considered the use of AI testing to support advertising claims. NAD determined that AI testing is an emerging area with potential benefits but emphasized that testing must be properly validated for the specific claims being supported, particularly when claims convey real-world consumer benefits.
Better Hearing All Around Claim
Sonova challenged Starkey’s claim that Omega AI “delivers better hearing all around.” Starkey discontinued the claim on its website and in a pamphlet but sought to retain it as a caption accompanying an online video.
Starkey’s study found that, among participants who expressed a preference, 94% preferred Omega AI for directionality and 96% preferred Omega AI for speech clarity, but 52% and 42% of participants, respectively, expressed no preference.
NAD noted its precedent that unqualified preference claims should not be made when 20% or more of respondents express no preference. Therefore, NAD recommended that Starkey discontinue the claim or modify it to clearly and conspicuously disclose that the 94% or 96% results are limited to “those who expressed a preference” and that the preference was as compared to Starkey’s prior technology.
Spatial Awareness Claims
Sonova challenged Starkey’s claims that Omega AI provides “up to 8 dB SNR improvement for better spatial awareness” and “offering up to an 8 dB SNR advantage and ensuring awareness of the surroundings.” Starkey permanently modified the claims on its website and in a pamphlet to reference its prior technology and NAD reviewed the modified claim.
NAD determined that the broad “up to 8 dB SNR improvement for better spatial awareness” claim was not a good fit for the submitted evidence and recommended that Starkey discontinue the claim or modify it to clearly and conspicuously disclose the basis for the claim and that the comparison is against Starkey’s prior technology.
Competitive Claims
Sonova challenged Starkey’s claims that Omega AI is “better than the rest in noisy conditions,” provides “superior performance with up to a 6.5 dB advantage (70% improvement) in speech intelligibility measures compared to all major brands,” and “consistently outperforms other brands, delivering up to 6.5 dB advantage (70% better performance) in complex, noisy listening situations.”
Starkey modified its advertising to add the word “predictive” before “speech intelligibility.” Starkey supported the claims with laboratory testing using Whisper Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), an AI speech-to-text system, to compare flagship hearing aid products from six major brands.
NAD determined that a reasonable consumer would understand the challenged claims as conveying real-world performance and that the word “predictive” was insufficient to qualify that message. NAD further determined that the record did not establish that Whisper ASR’s emerging technology had been validated to support a claim about measurable outcomes for actual hearing aid wearers. Therefore, NAD recommended that Starkey discontinue the challenged competitive claims.
The Leader in Healthcare Claim
Sonova challenged Starkey’s claim that it is “the leader in hearing healthcare.” NAD determined that the evidence submitted may support a claim that Starkey is “a” leader in hearing healthcare but did not support the broader claim that Starkey is “the” leader. Therefore, NAD recommended that Starkey modify the claim to clarify the metrics on which the claim is based.
Starkey advised NAD that it will permanently modify the claims “28% better speech intelligibility” and “28% improved speech intelligibility.” Therefore, NAD did not review these claims on their merits and, for compliance purposes, will treat the voluntary modifications as though NAD had recommended the modification.
In its advertiser statement, Starkey stated, “Although Starkey respectfully disagrees with several aspects of NAD’s decision, Starkey will comply with it.”
All BBB National Programs case decision summaries can be found in the case decision library. For the full text of NAD, NARB, and CARU decisions, subscribe to the online archive. Per NAD/NARB Procedures, this release may not be used for promotional purposes.
About BBB National Programs: BBB National Programs, a non-profit organization, is the home of U.S. independent industry self-regulation, currently operating more than 20 globally recognized programs that have been helping enhance consumer trust in business for more than 50 years. These programs provide third-party accountability and dispute resolution services that address existing and emerging industry issues, create fair competition for businesses, and a better experience for consumers. BBB National Programs continues to evolve its work and grow its impact by providing business guidance and fostering best practices in advertising, child-and-teen-directed marketing, data privacy, dispute resolution, automobile warranty, technology, and emerging areas. To learn more, visit bbbprograms.org.
About the National Advertising Division: The National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs provides independent self-regulation and dispute resolution services, guiding the truthfulness of advertising across the U.S. NAD reviews national advertising in all media and its decisions set consistent standards for advertising truth and accuracy, delivering meaningful protection to consumers and creating fair competition for business.
Name: Jennifer Rosenberg Email: jrosenberg@bbbnp.org Job Title: Media Relations
