Seattle crosswalk audio buttons hacked to mimic Jeff Bezos’ voice pleading to not tax the wealthy | EUROtoday

Seattle pedestrians had been greeted Wednesday by Jeff Bezos – or, somewhat, an AI-generated model of the billionaire’s voice – in hacked crosswalk audio recordings that often say issues like “Wait!”

After urgent the crosswalk button, a voice claiming to be Bezos greeted pedestrians: “Hello this is Jeff Bezos. This crosswalk is sponsored by Amazon Prime with an important message,” revealed movies posted by Reddit customers and on X of the hack, which appeared to have an effect on crosswalks throughout the town.

“Please, please don’t tax the rich. Otherwise, all the other billionaires will move to Florida too,” the voice continued. The Amazon founder moved to Miami final 12 months. Just this week he offered his Seattle residence for $63 million, in keeping with stories.

The recording then made an obvious chilling reference to 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, who’s accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson final December. He has pleaded not responsible.

“Wouldn’t it be terrible if all the rich people left Seattle … then normal people could afford to live here again?” the message continued, apparently making a touch upon the rising price of dwelling within the metropolis lately.

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Comedian Bo Burnham’s tune “Bezos I” then performed earlier than the recording got here to an finish.

When reached for remark by KIRO7 TV, a spokesperson for Amazon informed the information station: “We do not endorse or sponsor these crosswalks.”

It wasn’t instantly clear what number of crosswalk buttons had been impacted.

The Seattle Department of Transportation stated it was responding to “several locations which have been altered to play fake audio messages.” The division stated in an announcement on Wednesday night: “We have corrected walk signal messages in multiple locations, and will continue to respond to tampered push buttons if we learn of them.”

Officials emphasised that the division is working to reply to the state of affairs as rapidly as doable, noting that they take this matter significantly.

“The audio recordings at crosswalks play a critical role for people who are blind or have limited vision, helping them to cross streets safely,” the division stated. “We are concerned that someone would disregard the safety of people to make a political statement.”

The division added that it’s contemplating “stronger security measures to prevent future hacking.” It didn’t reply to questions concerning who was liable for the citywide hack.

The hack occurred days after AI-generated variations of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s voices cropped up in audio recordings at crosswalks throughout Silicon Valley.

“It’s normal to feel uncomfortable or even violated as we forcefully insert AI into every facet of your conscious experience,” a Zuckerberg soundalike stated, TechCrunch reported. “I just want to assure you, you don’t need to worry because there’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop it.”

The Musk voice reportedly stated: “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?”

The recording continues: “F***, I’m so alone.”