Over the weekend, several audio-enabled traffic control crosswalk buttons in Silicon Valley were hijacked to play AI-generated voices of tech moguls Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Locals in Menlo Park, Palo Alto, and Redwood City filmed the unusual occurrence. Where the crosswalk buttons broadcasted quirky, AI-generated speech designed to sound like the two billionaires.
One hacked crosswalk button, imitating Zuckerberg’s voice, said, “It’s normal to feel uncomfortable or even violated as we forcefully insert AI into every facet of your conscious experience. I just want to assure you, you don’t need to worry because there’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop it.”
Another button, designed to sound like Musk, added, “I guess they say money can’t buy happiness… I guess that’s true. God knows I’ve tried. But it can buy a Cybertruck and that’s pretty sick, right?” The Musk-voiced button then added, “F—k, I’m so alone.”
It remains unclear who is behind this unusual hack or the reason for the prank. Though there are hints it could be related to hacktivism. A Redwood City official told Palo Alto Online that the city is working to resolve the issue quickly. The tampering is believed to have occurred on Friday.
Audio-enabled crosswalk buttons are widely used across the U.S. to assist pedestrians with visual impairments or other accessibility needs. The devices usually play specific audio messages to signal when it’s safe to cross the street.
In a 2024 video, security researcher Deviant Ollam demonstrated how these audio systems can be vulnerable to hacking, often due to unmodified default passwords. Polara, the company behind the technology, has yet to comment on the breach.
