Seattle pedestrians were greeted Wednesday by Jeff Bezos – or, rather, an AI-generated version of the billionaire’s voice – in hacked crosswalk audio recordings that usually say things like “Wait!”
After pressing 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 videos posted by Reddit users and on X of the hack, which seemed to affect crosswalks across the city.
“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 last year. Just this week he sold his Seattle home for $63 million, according to reports.
The recording then made an apparent chilling reference to 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last December. He has pleaded not guilty.
“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 comment on the rising cost of living in the city in recent years.
Comedian Bo Burnham’s tune “Bezos I” then played before the recording came to an end.
When reached for comment by KIRO7 TV, a spokesperson for Amazon told the news station: “We do not endorse or sponsor these crosswalks.”
It wasn’t immediately clear how many crosswalk buttons were impacted.
The Seattle Department of Transportation said it was responding to “several locations which have been altered to play fake audio messages.” The department said in a statement on Wednesday evening: “We have corrected walk signal messages in multiple locations, and will continue to respond to tampered push buttons if we learn of them.”
Officials emphasized that the department is working to respond to the situation as quickly as possible, noting that they take this matter seriously.
“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 department said. “We are concerned that someone would disregard the safety of people to make a political statement.”
The department added that it’s considering “stronger security measures to prevent future hacking.” It did not respond to questions regarding who was responsible for the citywide hack.
The hack occurred days after AI-generated versions of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s voices cropped up in audio recordings at crosswalks across 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 said, 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 said: “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.”
