Hacked Crosswalk Recordings Mock, Impersonate Tech Billionaires In South Bay

PALO ALTO, CA — Pedestrians heard some surprising messages at South Bay crosswalks over the weekend, as recordings that typically give walkers instructions were altered to feature monologues delivered in the apparent voices of celebrity tech CEOs.

"Hi, this is Mark Zuckerberg, but real ones call me The Zuck,” said one such recording, filmed in Menlo Park and posted to TikTok. “You know, it's normal to feel uncomfortable or even violated as we forcefully insert AI into every, 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.”

Another TikTok video, recorded in Palo Alto, lampooned Elon Musk.

”Hi, this is Elon Musk,” it said. “Welcome to Palo Alto, the home of Tesla engineering. You know, they say money can't buy happiness, and yeah, OK, I guess that's true. God knows I've tried. But it can buy a Cybertruck and that's pretty sick, right? Right?”

Twelve intersections in downtown Palo Alto were affected by the hack, according to NBC Bay Area, which reported city staff disabled the feature pending repairs. In addition to Menlo Park and Palo Alto, the messages were also discovered in Redwood City, according to the outlet.