‘Blade Runner 2049’ producers sue Elon Musk and Tesla over AI image at robotaxi event

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A movie manufacturing firm that helped make “Blade Runner 2049” has sued Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk for utilizing an AI-generated picture resembling a scene from the science fiction film to market Tesla’s new robotaxis.

Alcon Leisure mentioned it refused all permissions however Tesla allegedly used synthetic intelligence to “do all of it anyway” when the carmaker unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi on Oct. 10 throughout a live-streamed occasion at a Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank, California.

After pulling as much as the stage in one of many firm’s “Cybercabs,” Musk gave a speech that included a quick reference to the film franchise. As he spoke, a display screen confirmed a picture of a person in a protracted coat trying over an orange-tinted ruined metropolis. Alcon claims it resembles a key scene through which star Ryan Gosling arrives by “quasi-sentient flying automobile” to an deserted Las Vegas.

“I really like Blade Runner, however I don’t know if we would like that future,” Musk mentioned. “I believe we would like that duster he’s sporting, however not the grim apocalypse.”

A copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Alcon this week in a Southern California federal court docket alleges that defendants had requested permission to make use of photographs from the film “mere hours” earlier than the occasion however Alcon “refused all permissions and adamantly objected.”

Tesla didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Tuesday.

Alcon can also be suing Warner Bros, the film’s distributor that hosted Musk’s robotaxi occasion. Warner Bros. Discovery didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Alcon, which is engaged on a derivative “Blade Runner 2099” sequence for Amazon, mentioned it’s in talks with automakers about model collaborations however has prevented affiliating with Tesla due to Musk’s “excessive political and social views” and his “massively amplified, extremely politicized, capricious and arbitrary habits, which generally veers into hate speech.”