Elon Musk’s Tesla is being sued by the Hollywood company behind Blade Runner 2049, which is accusing the car manufacturer of using imagery from the 2017 film to promote its new robotaxi without permission.
On October 10, Tesla held “We, Robot,” a livestreamed event hosted inside Warner Bros Discovery’s Los Angeles studio to market its prototypes including autonomous vehicles and a general-purpose robot Musk described as “the biggest product ever, of any kind.”
Ahead of the event, Alcon Entertainment denied a request from Tesla and Warner Bros Discovery to use images from its film. Musk, the lawsuit claims, was aware of Alcon’s “permission denials and express objections,” but included references anyway. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on October 21.
Rather than using images from Blade Runner 2049, Alcon alleges that the event displayed A.I.-generated images that echoed scenes and characters from the film, “a bad-faith and intentionally malicious gambit” that was intended to make Tesla and its products “more attractive to a global audience.”
The suit took particular issue with one of Tesla’s A.I. images that appeared on screen for 11 seconds. It presented a figure, in a trench coat reminiscent of the one Ryan Gosling dons in the film, standing before a dystopic, orange-hued city. During its appearance, Musk talked explicitly about the Hollywood franchise: “I love Blade Runner,” he said.
Still from Tesla’s We, Robot presentation. Photo: Tesla.
Alcon claims that referencing a film that is known for its strikingly-designed and fully autonomous car is a “thinly contrived excuse to link Tesla’s cybercab to strong Hollywood brands.” Obtaining this type of brand affiliation with the franchise would likely have cost Tesla between $500,000 and $10 million, the suit alleges.
Beyond simple copyright protection reasons, Alcon was wary of being associated with Musk on account of his irregular, volatile, and sometimes politicized behavior. The company does “not agree with Musk’s extreme political and social views” and finds the potential affiliation fraught. Musk has been actively and publicly campaigning for former U.S. President Donald Trump over the past year.
Alcon is asking for an injunction against Tesla and Musk, an impounding of the digital images used in the event, and statutory damages from copyright infringement, which can run up to $150,000 per infringement, the suit noted.
It’s the second time in a matter of days that Tesla has been accused of plagiarism by elements of the film industry. Immediately following the “We, Robot” event, Alex Proyas, the director of I, Robot, posted side-by-side images of Tesla’s prototypes and their equivalents in the 2004 film.
“Hey Elon, can I have my designs back please?” Proyas wrote on Musk’s platform X. Alcon is asking something similar, though, this time it potentially comes with legal ramifications.