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.
When the image appears on the screen, he says, “we didn’t want the blade runner future. Well, maybe that cool duster he’s wearing.” So anyone there would likely assume that the image is from Blade Runner. The intent of the image was Blade Runner.