Instead of the usual “walk” or “wait” instructions that emit from crosswalk speakers, Silicon Valley pedestrians were in for an auditory surprise over the weekend when they instead heard seemingly deepfaked recordings, mocking some of the titans who preside over the tech world.
A series of viral videos posted on social media showed crosswalk speakers playing derisive messages about billionaire tech giants Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg in Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Redwood City as perplexed onlookers laughed.
It was unclear who created these messages and how they made their way into the traffic system. By Monday, the fake voices have either been replaced with traditional “walk” and “wait” instructions on the hacked crosswalk systems or the audio has been deactivated entirely.
In one viral video, a woman pressed the pedestrian call button beneath a sign that had been modified to say “Boycott Tesla.” In addition to the standard pedestrian instructions, the speaker played a fake Musk monologue.
“You know it’s funny, I used to think he was just this dumb sack of [expletive],” the voice resembling Musk’s began, apparently referring to President Trump. “But, well, when you get to know him, he’s actually really sweet and tender and loving.”
In the background, a voice resembling Donald Trump’s responded: “Sweetie, come back to bed.”
In Menlo Park, the home of Zuckerberg’s Meta, another viral video showed his spoofed voice greeting pedestrians.
“Hi, this is Mark Zuckerberg, but real ones call me the Zuck,” the voice began. “You know, it’s normal to feel uncomfortable or even violated as we forcefully insert AI into every facet of your conscious experience, and I just want to assure you, you don’t need to worry, because there’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. Anyway, see ya.”
In Redwood City, city officials said they knew of four locations with hacked crosswalk signals, said deputy city manager Jennifer Yamaguma.
“The unauthorized messages have since been disabled, and staff are evaluating ways to strengthen system protections,” she said. “We also want to remind the public that tampering with city infrastructure, including crosswalk signals, is unlawful and poses a safety risk.”
In Menlo Park, the locally controlled crosswalk signals that include audio recordings were not hacked and city officials are working with the crosswalk signal manufacturer to ensure they are not hacked in the future, city officials say.
However, the Caltrans operated crosswalk signals in Menlo Park were hacked on El Camino Real and near the Meta campus. Caltrans officials said they are in communications with the city and are investigating how the hack occurred to avoid future problems. The crosswalk signals continue to operate but the hacked audio has been deactivated, according to authorities.
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