Speakers on crosswalks in Seattle, designed to assist the visually impaired with voice commands, were hacked this week to project an AI version of former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ voice.
In videos posted to social media, the AI-enabled voice of the billionaire can be heard begging pedestrians not to tax the country’s wealthiest residents.
“Hello, this is Jeff Bezos. This crosswalk is sponsored by Amazon Prime with an important message,” the voice says. “Please, please don’t tax the rich. Otherwise, all the other billionaires will move to Florida too.”
The message makes reference to the fact that Bezos moved to Miami last year and is reported to have sold his Seattle mansion for a staggering $63 million this week.
In further remarks, the AI-enabled voice goes on to mention Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson late last year.
“Wouldn’t it be terrible if all the rich people left Seattle or got Luigi’d?” the voice asks. “And then normal people could afford to live here again.”
Before ending, the audio recording can be heard playing comedian Bo Burnham’s “Bezos I,” a popular song about the billionaire.
In a statement to Seattle-based news outlet KIRO7, an Amazon spokesperson said that the company did “not endorse or sponsor” the crosswalks.
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) also issued a statement on the matter and argued that the apparent prank disregarded the safety of the city’s visually impaired.
“The audio recordings at crosswalks play a critical role for people who are blind or have limited vision, helping them to cross streets safely,” SDOT told local tech outlet GeekWire. “We are concerned that someone would disregard the safety of people to make a political statement.”
For now, it remains unclear how many crosswalks were affected. SDOT added that it is now considering “stronger security measures to prevent future hacking.”
The hack comes just days after crosswalks in Silicon Valley were commandeered to use AI-generated voices of Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
In those recordings, the AI Musk begged for friends and approval while the AI Zuckerberg celebrated “undermining democracy” and “cooking our grandparents’ brains with AI slop.”
Correction: This post originally stated Bezos is the CEO of Amazon. He is the former CEO, but remains chairman of its board.
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