Palo Alto road crossings roast ‘Zuck’ and ‘Elon’
Pedestrians in Silicon Valley bought an uncomfortable shock when urgent crosswalk buttons this weekend, upon which they heard satirical recordings that imitated billionaire tech CEOs. Voice clips pretending to be Fb/Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla CEO Elon Musk emanated from audio system meant to information the visually impaired.
“Hello, I’m Elon,” stated one speaker, in a reader-submitted video posted to Palo Alto On-line (by way of Tom’s {Hardware}). “Can we be pals? Will you be my buddy? I’ll provide you with a Cybertruck, I promise.” The satirical message continued, “Okay, look, you don’t know the extent of depravity I might stoop to only for a crumb of approval. I imply, let’s be actual, it’s not like I had any ethical convictions to start with, proper?”
A video displaying the same recording from “Mark Zuckerberg” took purpose at Meta’s rising presence within the AI house. “You already know, it’s regular to really feel uncomfortable, and even violated, as we forcefully insert AI into each aspect of your acutely aware expertise. And I simply wish to guarantee you, you don’t want to fret, as a result of there’s completely nothing you are able to do to cease it.”
Different messages claimed that Zuckerberg was proud to “undermine democracy,” “cook dinner our grandparents’ brains with AI slop,” “[make] the world much less protected for trans folks,” and that Musk thinks being a most cancers on society is “superior.”
The messages have been reported in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Redwood Metropolis, the place residents and guests are undeniably conscious of the large presence that companies like Meta, Tesla, X (previously Twitter), and xAI have within the space. Musk, Zuckerberg, and different billionaires are dealing with intense public scrutiny as their firms and their private actions—typically in open cooperation with the Trump administration or bowing to its calls for—proceed to have an effect on Individuals and others.
In accordance with a spokesperson for town of Palo Alto, audio system at twelve intersections have been affected and have been disabled. Close by Redwood Metropolis can also be affected, and deputy metropolis supervisor stated that workers have been investigating as of Saturday night. Precisely how this occurred—for instance, was it an out of doors hack or was it somebody with entry to the cities’ infrastructures?—shouldn’t be clear.
