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Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Yahoo
Hackers insert Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg's voices into crosswalk signals
Anonymous hackers in Silicon Valley reprogrammed crosswalk signals in various locations with the voices of tech billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Video circulated online showed the tongue-in-cheek, and apparently AI-generated prank messages being played at various locations after pedestrians pushed the buttons to cross the road. 'Hi, this is Mark Zuckerberg, but real ones call me the Zuck,' one crosswalk says. The voice then adds: '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.' Members of the public reported the hacking of crosswalks at locations in Redwood City, Menlo Park and Palo Alto, in the Bay Area. The AI-generated Musk can be heard asking if people will be his friend and promising to give them one of his Tesla Cybertrucks in return. "This is Elon Musk. Welcome to Palo Alto, the home of Tesla Engineering,' the voice says. 'They say money can't buy happiness. I guess that's true. God knows, I've tried, but it can buy a cyber truck, and that's pretty sick, right? F*** I'm so loaded.' In another video, the AI-generated Musk voice says: 'You don't know the level of depravity I would stoop to just for a crumb of approval… I mean, let's be real, it's not like I had any moral convictions to begin with.' City officials were quick to act, with all sound being shut off at the affected crosswalks by Saturday morning in Palo Alto. Spokesperson Meghan Horrigan-Taylor told local outlet Palo Alto Online that it had been determined that 12 downtown intersections had been impacted and subsequently had the voice feature disabled. 'Other traffic signals in the City were checked and the impact is isolated,' Horrigan-Taylor said. 'Signal operations are otherwise unaffected, and motorists are reminded to always exercise caution around pedestrians.' It is unclear what the motive behind the prank was.
The Independent
14-04-2025
- The Independent
Hackers insert Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg's voices into crosswalk signals
Anonymous hackers in Silicon Valley reprogrammed crosswalk signals in various locations with the voices of tech billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Video circulated online showed the tongue-in-cheek, and apparently AI-generated prank messages being played at various locations after pedestrians pushed the buttons to cross the road. 'Hi, this is Mark Zuckerberg, but real ones call me the Zuck,' one crosswalk says. The voice then adds: '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.' Members of the public reported the hacking of crosswalks at locations in Redwood City, Menlo Park and Palo Alto, in the Bay Area. The AI-generated Musk can be heard asking if people will be his friend and promising to give them one of his Tesla Cybertrucks in return. "This is Elon Musk. Welcome to Palo Alto, the home of Tesla Engineering,' the voice says. 'They say money can't buy happiness. I guess that's true. God knows, I've tried, but it can buy a cyber truck, and that's pretty sick, right? F*** I'm so loaded.' In another video, the AI-generated Musk voice says: 'You don't know the level of depravity I would stoop to just for a crumb of approval… I mean, let's be real, it's not like I had any moral convictions to begin with.' City officials were quick to act, with all sound being shut off at the affected crosswalks by Saturday morning in Palo Alto. Spokesperson Meghan Horrigan-Taylor told local outlet Palo Alto Online that it had been determined that 12 downtown intersections had been impacted and subsequently had the voice feature disabled. 'Other traffic signals in the City were checked and the impact is isolated,' Horrigan-Taylor said. 'Signal operations are otherwise unaffected, and motorists are reminded to always exercise caution around pedestrians.' It is unclear what the motive behind the prank was.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Yahoo
Silicon Valley crosswalk buttons hacked to imitate Musk, Zuckerberg's voices
Audio-enabled traffic control crosswalk buttons across Silicon Valley were hacked over the weekend to include audio snippets imitating the voices of Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Videos taken by locals in Menlo Park, Palo Alto, and Redwood City in California show the crosswalk buttons were playing AI-generated speech designed to sound like the two billionaires. "It's normal to feel uncomfortable or even violated as we forcefully insert AI into every facet of your conscious experience," said one crosswalk button, which was hacked to sound like Zuckerberg. "I just want to assure you, you don't need to worry because there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop it." One crosswalk button that was hacked to sound like Musk said: "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?" 'F—k, I'm so alone,' the Musk voice adds. It's not clear why the sidewalk buttons were hacked, or by whom, but signs point to possible hacktivism. Palo Alto Online, one of the first outlets to report the hack, cited a Redwood City official as saying the city was "actively working to investigate and resolve the issue as quickly as possible." According to the outlet, the tamperings may have happened on Friday. Audio-enabled crosswalk buttons are widely used across the United States to allow those with visual impairments or accessibility needs to hear custom audio messages that play for pedestrians to know when it is safe to cross a street. In a video from 2024, physical penetration specialist and security researcher Deviant Ollam explains how audio-enabled crosswalk buttons can be manipulated often by way of default-set passwords that have not been changed. Polara, the company that makes the audio-enabled crosswalk buttons, did not respond to a request for comment when contacted by TechCrunch on Monday. Sign in to access your portfolio
