Elon Musk and Tesla are embroiled in a new lawsuit.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the production company Alcon Entertainment, has accused Musk, his company, and Warner Bros. Discovery of copyright infringement and false endorsement following Musk’s robotaxi unveiling earlier this month.
The filing alleges that Musk generated AI images based on Alcon’s film Blade Runner 2049 and created unlicensed promotional materials without Alcon’s permission. Alcon stated it didn’t want the film “affiliated with Musk.”
“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,” the complaint says. “Alcon did not want BR2049 to be affiliated with Musk.”
Alcon claims that Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) aided Musk by providing the studio lot where the event was held. The alleged AI-generated images were shown during Musk’s speech, depicting a man in a trench coat who looks around at an abandoned city. According to the filing, the image was a nod to a scene where Ryan Gosling’s Blade Runner 2049 character surveys a deserted Las Vegas.
“You know, I love Blade Runner, but I don’t know if we want that future,” Musk said on stage, referencing the film. “I believe we want that duster he’s wearing, but not the, uh, not the bleak apocalypse.”
In response to a tweet about the lawsuit against his company, Musk responded, "That movie sucked."
WBD and Alcon worked together on the domestic distribution of Blade Runner 2049 in 2017. However, WBD didn’t have full licensing rights for the movie, so when Musk asked WBD if he could associate the robotaxi with Blade Runner 2049, WBD reached out to Alcon for permission. The AI images were generated after the production company denied the request.
“All of the Defendants participated in its creation, and in its display in the presentation at the event, from a WBDI-owned building and studio lot, on WBDI-owned video screens and otherwise using WBDI-owned technology infrastructure, operated by or in conjunction with Tesla employees, all acting in whole or in part subject to the direction and control of Musk,” the filing says.
Alcon is seeking unspecified damages and a court order prohibiting Tesla from continuing to use the AI images.
"Blade Runner 2049 was released in 2017 as a follow-up to the 1982 classic Blade Runner. The sequel starred Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, and Jared Leto, and won two Oscars.