Tesla, Elon Musk, and Warner Brothers Discovery have been named as defendants in a lawsuit filed by Delaware LLC and Hollywood filmmaker Alcon Entertainment. The lawsuit alleged that Tesla and Musk used a seemingly AI-generated image inspired by Blade Runner 2049 during “We, Robot” without Alcon Entertainment’s permission.
Musk’s pitch for Tesla’s Robotaxi included a segment where the CEO highlighted that self-driving cars like the Cybercab could pave the way toward a more peaceful, beautiful future. Musk noted that while he loves Blade Runner, he does not want to live in the dystopian future depicted in the movie. It was at this part of the presentation when Tesla showed an image, which seemed rendered through AI, that was evidently inspired by one of the posters for Blade Runner 2049.
In its lawsuit, Alcon claimed that the defendants of the case requested permission to use the Blade Runner 2049 still image. Alcon stated that it refused to grant permission and that it “adamantly objected to Defendants suggesting any affiliation between Blade Runner 2049 and Tesla, Musk, or any Musk-owned company.” Despite this, Alcon stated that Tesla proceeded to use the AI-generated still image anyway.
Alcon described its complaint in the following section.
“Musk tried awkwardly to explain why he was showing the audience a picture of Blade Runner 2049 when he was supposed to be talking about his new product. He really had no credible reason. Musk ostensibly invited the global audience to think about the Cybercab’s possibilities in juxtaposition to Blade Runner 2049’s fictional future. But it all exuded an odor of thinly contrived excuse to link Tesla’s Cybercab to strong Hollywood brands at a time when Tesla and Musk are on the outs with Hollywood. Which of course is exactly what it was.
Alcon also cited alleged issues with Elon Musk as one of the reasons behind its legal complaint.
“Any prudent brand considering any Tesla partnership has to take Musk’s massively amplified, highly politicized, capricious, and arbitrary behavior, which sometimes veers into hate speech, into account. If, as here, a company or its principals do not actually agree with Musk’s extreme political and social views, then a potential brand affiliation with Tesla is even more issue-fraught. Alcon did not want Blade Runner 2049 to be affiliated with Musk, Tesla, or any Musk company for all of these reasons,” the plaintiff wrote.
Below is Alcon Entertainment’s lawsuit against Tesla, Elon Musk, and Warner Brothers Discovery.
Blade Runner Lawsuit by Simon Alvarez on Scribd
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