Hacked Crosswalks Play Deepfake Voices of Bay Area Tech Billionaires In Silicon Valley
The Bay Area has become synonymous with tech, and while San Francisco takes the brunt of the blame, America’s most purposefully mischaracterized city is made up of many different realities. However, the suburbs to the south that make up the heart of Silicon Valley are completely and unapologetically dominated by tech. The most famous of those overpriced South Bay suburbs is none other than Palo Alto. But it appears even some in Palo Alto are getting sick of the oligarchs that made their city the nerdy equivalent to the 90201. At least it appears that way if you’re trying to cross the street.
Early Saturday morning, videos started circulating on social media of crosswalks playing deep-fake voice messages from Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg that ranged from humorous to vaguely unsettling.
The first one I saw was on none other than Broke Ass Stuart’s Instagram page from an AI Elon Musk saying “Hello. This is Elon Musk. Welcome to Palo Alto, the home of Tesla engineering. You know they say money can’t buy happiness, and OK, I guess that’s true. God knows I’ve tried. But it can buy a Cybertruck and that’s pretty sick, right? Right? Fuck, I’m so alone.”
While Musk’s messages were funny, Zuckerberg’s took on a noticeably darker tone.
“Hi, this is Mark Zuckerberg, but real ones call me Zuck. You know, it’s normal to feel uncomfortable or even violated as we forcefully insert AI into 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 hack wasn’t limited to just one crosswalk, but was reported in several locations in Palo Alto and nearby cities like Menlo Park and Redwood City.
While the deep-fakes were undeniably entertaining, they don’t do anything to change the material realities of life in Silicon Valley, the greater Bay Area or the world that is forced to live with the ramifications of the technology that has roots in this region.
We all know we’re getting fucked by the modern day robber barons of the South Bay, but if the only form of resistance are marches that last no longer than few hours and snarky crosswalks, then we’re fucking doomed.
The good news is… we’re not doomed. As time goes on, and more of Silicon Valley’s oligarchs rally around Trump, more and more people are becoming openly critical of the status quo, even in affluent enclaves like Palo Alto.This is a great sign. The present moment is becoming one of the most potent times in recent American history to organize.
If you’re sick of guys like Mark Zuckerberg naming hospitals after themselves, even though they run companies that actively make our collective mental health worse, or if you’re sick of seeing cars on the road that look like electric shavers to compensate for Elon Musk’s allegedly botched penis enlargement surgery, then it’s time to eat the rich. Or at least tax them enough so everybody can at the very least have something to eat.
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Howdy! My name is Katy Atchison and I'm an Associate Editor for Broke-Ass Stuart.
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