"F**k I am so alone" — California crosswalk plays fake messages in Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg's voices after being allegedly hacked
Over the weekend, Silicon Valley residents took to social media to post videos of local crosswalk signals emitting messages in voices mimicking Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg instead of the typical "walk" or "wait" sounds.
TikTok was flooded with videos of the phenomenon after locals from Redwood City, Palo Alto, and Menlo Park shared several clips. Elon Musk reshared one of the videos on X on April 15, 2025. According to USA Today, a pedestrian recorded a video of a signal in Palo Alto conveying a message in an AI-generated voice resembling the tech billionaire, saying:
"Hi, this is Elon Musk. Welcome to Palo Alto, the home of Tesla engineering. You know, they say money can't buy happiness, and yeah, okay. I guess that's true. God knows I've tried, but it can buy a Cybertruck, and that's pretty sick, right? Right? F**k, I'm so alone."
Another video of a crosswalk signal in Menlo Park, California, can be heard talking in a voice resembling Mark Zuckerberg, saying that people would be unable to do anything as companies "forcefully insert AI into every, every facet of your conscious experience."
"Hi, this is Mark Zuckerberg, but real ones call me the Zuck. You know, it's normal to feel uncomfortable or even violated as we forcefully insert AI into every, 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," the message said.
The tampered messages using Elon Musk's AI-generated voice have been disabled
Several crosswalk signals across California have been tampered with to alter the usual commands to deliver messages in Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg's voices. Residents have documented the messages in various videos on social media.
According to The Independent, a voice resembling Elon Musk can be heard saying in one video that no one knew "the level of depravity" he would "stoop to just for a crumb of approval," with the message continuing, "It's not like I had any moral convictions to begin with."
In another video, the tech billionaire AI-generated voice can be heard presumably referring to President Donald Trump as a "dumb sack of s**t," saying:
"You know it's funny, I used to think he was just this dumb sack of s**t. But, well, when you get to know him, he's actually really sweet and tender and loving."
According to The Los Angeles Times, a voice resembling Trump can be heard in the background of the message saying, "Sweetie, come back to bed."
Four crosswalk signals in Redwood City have reportedly been hacked to substitute the standard voice command with messages in Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg's AI-generated voices. Jennifer Yamaguma, the deputy city manager, said the "unauthorized messages" have since been "disabled," adding:
"The unauthorized messages have since been disabled, and staff are evaluating ways to strengthen system protections. We also want to remind the public that tampering with city infrastructure, including crosswalk signals, is unlawful and poses a safety risk."
Officials are working to resolve a similar issue with Caltrans-run crosswalk signals in Menlo Park and are further investigating ways to avoid such issues in the future. According to USA Today, Meghan Horrigan-Taylor, a City of Palo Alto spokesperson, said officials "determined that 12 downtown intersections were similarly malfunctioning."
In a statement to the local Palo Alto Online outlet, Horrigan-Taylor continued:
"Other traffic signals in the City were checked and the impact is isolated. Signal operations are otherwise unaffected, and motorists are reminded to always exercise caution around pedestrians."
In other Elon Musk-related news, OpenAI is reportedly creating a new social media platform to compete with the tech billionaire's X. According to CNBC, the project is still in its early stages.