Bezos is the latest tech titan to see his voice spoofed at West Coast crosswalks.
AP Photo/John Locher
Commuters in Seattle this morning may have noticed that the city’s crosswalks sounded a bit odd: When pedestrians pushed the button to cross, the voice of the world’s second-richest man spoke back.
“Hi, I’m Jeff Bezos!,” the presumably AI-generated recording begins. “This crosswalk is sponsored by Amazon Prime with an important message.” Then, as comedian Bo Burnham’s “Bezos I” plays in the background, the message continues. “Please, please don’t tax the rich. Otherwise, all the other billionaires will move to Florida too,” it says, referencing the Amazon founder’s recent residency change that saved him an estimated $1 billion in taxes. Just this week, Bezos, worth an estimated $191 billion as of Wednesday, sold his Seattle-area home for a reported $63 million.
“Wouldn’t it be terrible if all the rich people left Seattle or got Luigi’ed”—an apparent reference to the alleged slaying of the United Healthcare CEO by Luigi Mangione in Manhattan last year—“and then normal people could afford to live here again?” the recording concludes. Seattle grew by 21% between 2010 and 2020, almost triple the national growth rate of 7.1%, and like many big cities, the cost of living has increased dramatically as well. Rent.com statistics show that the average one-bedroom apartment in Seattle now goes for $2,200 monthly, while a two-bedroom rents for just under $3,000.
The recording was heard by a Forbes reporter in the University District neighborhood near the University of Washington. Reportedly, it also affected crosswalks elsewhere in the city. The hacking mirrors a similar incident in California earlier this week, when crosswalks apparently mimicked the voices of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. “Hi, this is Elon Musk. Welcome to Palo Alto, the home of Tesla Engineering,” one Bay Area recording said. “You know, they say money can’t buy happiness and, yeah, OK.”
The Seattle Department of Transportation said in a statement that it is responding to hacked buttons in several locations.
“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.” It also noted that the department is considering “stronger security measures to prevent future hacking.”
Update, 5:30 p.m. ET, April 16: This story has been updated to include a statement from Seattle’s Department of Transportation.