• Crosswalk signals in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Redwood City were hacked to play deepfake audio.
• Messages impersonated tech giants Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg with satirical content.
• Approximately 12 crossings had their audio systems tampered with, leading to humorous recordings.

In an amusing turn of events, crosswalk signals in Silicon Valley were hacked over the weekend to broadcast deepfake audio impersonations of tech billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Pedestrians in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Redwood City experienced confusion as the standard “walk” and “wait” instructions were replaced with satirical messages poking fun at the tech moguls, according to SFGATE.

One notable message mimicking Zuckerberg introduced him as "The Zuck," adding sarcastic remarks about AI integration and its impacts on society. “It’s normal to feel uncomfortable or even violated as we forcefully insert AI into every facet of your conscious experience,” the faux Zuckerberg stated. In related audio, a voice impersonating Musk humorously remarked, “You know they say money can’t buy happiness... But it can buy a Cybertruck, and that’s pretty sick, right?” Los Angeles Times confirmed.

The hacks were reported to have first been noticed by a city employee, leading to the discovery that as many as 12 crosswalks were affected. City officials have temporarily disabled the audio systems while an investigation into how the breach occurred is underway. “Signal operations are otherwise unaffected, and motorists are reminded to always exercise caution around pedestrians,” stated city spokesperson Meghan Horrigan-Taylor, according to India Times.

Videos of the deepfake audio quickly went viral on social media, generating both amusement and confusion among local residents. This incident underscores the potential vulnerability of city infrastructure to hacking and the creative, if not disruptive, ways in which technology can be manipulated, as noted by India Times.