The production company behind Blade Runner 2049 filed a lawsuit Monday against Elon Musk and Tesla, accusing them of copyright infringement while promoting a new self-driving car.
In its lawsuit, Alcon Entertainment says Musk used AI-generated imagery mirroring scenes from its 2017 sci-fi film while presenting Tesla’s new autonomous Robotaxi at a marketing event earlier this month. Producers had denied his request to do so.
“He did it anyway,” the suit alleges, adding that the company denied Musk’s request due to the tech mogul’s “extreme political and social views” that occasionally veer into “hate speech.” Musk enthusiastically endorsed Donald Trump for president, appearing alongside him at a rally earlier this month, and has espoused transphobic views.
A scene from Musk’s globally livestreamed presentation on Oct. 10 featuring AI-generated footage of a man in a trench coat exploring the ruins of Las Vegas, the suit alleges, is ripped from one of the sci-fi film’s scenes featuring actor Ryan Gosling.
″[I]t 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,” the suit alleges.
Musk even referenced the film when giving his remarks, saying: “You know, I love ‘Blade Runner,’ but I don’t know if we want that future. I believe we want that duster he’s wearing, but not the ... bleak apocalypse.”
Tesla did not immediately return a request for comment on the lawsuit.
The complaint also names Warner Bros. Discovery as a defendant, saying it facilitated the presentation.
This is not the first time Musk has linked his brand to “Blade Runner.” Last year, he described his Tesla Cybertruck as an “armoured personnel carrier from the future — what Bladerunner would have driven.”
Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, also faced a copyright infringement lawsuit from music publishers who said the platform was letting people post their music online without permission. A judge dismissed much of the complaint in March.