Hackers infiltrated several Silicon Valley crosswalks over the weekend, replacing standard pedestrian prompts with AI-generated audio mimicking Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and President Trump.
The stunt, which took place in Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Redwood City, left residents puzzled and officials scrambling to regain control, according to the Los Angeles Times. Instead of the typical “walk” signals, pedestrians were met with bizarre monologues voiced by artificial intelligence.
One message, mimicking Mr. Musk, declared: “They say money can’t buy happiness … God knows I’ve tried. But it can buy a Cybertruck, and that’s pretty sick, right? F—-, I’m so alone,” TechCrunch reported.
Mr. Trump’s voice reportedly cooed to Mr. Musk in the background of one AI recording, imploring the Tesla CEO to “come back to bed.”
Another featured a voice resembling Mr. Zuckerberg’s made vaguely threatening remarks: “Hi, this is Mark Zuckerberg, but real ones call me the Zuck. I know everything about you. There’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. Anyway, see ya.”
City officials acted swiftly to disable the altered systems and launched an investigation into the breach, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Although the unauthorized messages were removed, the crosswalks’ primary functions remained operational throughout the incident. No injuries or traffic issues were reported.
