April 15 (UPI) -- Several crosswalk buttons in three California cities have been disabled after they were tampered with to play hoax audio clips claiming to be Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.
Videos posted online show crosswalk buttons in Redwood City, Menlo Park and Palo Alto being pressed and, instead of the usual pedestrian alerts, playing clips of voices impersonating the tech billionaires.
"Hi, this is Mark Zuckerberg, but real ones call me the Zuck," one of the recordings says. "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."
Another recording claiming to be Musk offers to give Cybertrucks to pedestrians in exchange for being his friend.
"You don't know the level of depravity I would stoop to just for a crumb of approval," the recording states. "I mean, let's be real, it's not like I had any moral convictions to begin with."
Meghan Horrigan-Taylor, a Palo Alto city spokesperson, said 12 crosswalks in the city were found to be affected. She said the voice-over systems have since been disabled.
"The impact is isolated," Horrigan-Taylor told SFGate. "Signal operations are otherwise unaffected, and motorists are reminded to always exercise caution around pedestrians."
A Redwood City representative said four crosswalks have been similarly disabled after they were found to have been tampered with.
Investigators are working to determine how the audio system was hacked and who was behind the apparent prank.
"We also want to remind the public that tampering with city infrastructure, including crosswalk signals, is unlawful and poses a safety risk," Redwood City Deputy City Manager Jennifer Yamaguma told the San Francisco Chronicle.
