Crosswalk Button Voices Altered
An Anonymous Coward writes:
https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/19/us_crosswalk_button_hacking/
Some pranksters altered the voices on crosswalk buttons in some US cities. The hardware had a control app available on Google Play and Apple App Store along with a listed default PIN of 1234.
Video Crosswalk buttons in various US cities were hijacked over the past week or so to - rather than robotically tell people it's safe to walk or wait - instead emit the AI-spoofed voices of Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg.
And it's likely all thanks to a freely available service app and poorly secured equipment.
In Seattle this week, some crosswalks started playing AI-generated messages spoofing tech tycoon Jeff Bezos. In one video clip, a synthetic Bezos voice can be heard introducing himself from the push-button box, and claiming the crossing is sponsored by Amazon Prime.
Then it veered into parody-turned-social commentary: "You know, please don't tax the rich, otherwise all the other billionaires will move to Florida too. Wouldn't it be terrible if all the rich people left Seattle or got Luigi-ed and then the normal people could afford to live here again?"
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