The maker of the movie Blade Runner 2049 has sued Elon Musk and Warner Bros. Discovery earlier this week for copyright infringement regarding Tesla’s newest “Robotaxis.” The company has argued that Musk and his company Tesla have utilized AI-influenced copyright infringement of still images from the movie to promote their prototype.
The lawsuit originates from production company Alcon Entertainment, which is currently making the sequel to Blade Runner 2049, namely Blade Runner 2099. It claimed that Tesla did indeed request to use an image from the movie for its event on October 10, centered around launching its Cybercab. However, this proposal was rejected by Alcon.
Despite this refusal, Tesla decided to “do it all anyway,” as per CNBC. Specifically, it did this by using an AI-generated fake image that very closely resembled an iconic scene from the movie. The civil suit described how Alcon was firm in its refusal, objecting to any defendants –– like Tesla and Warner Bros. Discovery –– who suggested a possible form of affiliation forming between Tesla and Blade Runner 2049.
This fake, AI-generated image was shown during Musk’s presentation for 11 seconds as he spoke about Tesla’s newest “Robotaxi.” The complainants explained how Musk seemed awkward during his presentation when the picture bloomed on the screen. Allegedly, Musk said, “I love ‘Blade Runner,’ but I don’t know if we want that future,” as the image was shown, according to reports by CNBC.
Furthermore, Alcon firmly described and affirmed that Tesla’s event did not include exact still-images from the movie but as The New York Times stated, the AI-generated images were quite frankly “mirroring scenes” from it, with one of the figures closely resembling Ryan Gosling, who plays the main protagonist in the film. Alcon Entertainment described Tesla’s actions to be malicious and intentionally indifferent, and believes that it wanted to make the event “more attractive to a global audience… [and] misappropriate the ‘Blade Runner 2049’ brand to help sell Teslas.”
The suit is one of many recent cases in which copyright infringement regarding AI-generated images have come to play. Moreover, it is just one of the many problems that the “problematic Musk” has faced in recent years within the industry, according to Alcon. Indeed, in the new age where AI technology has boomed, copyright issues have also increased more than ever. With even the largest companies in the world such as Tesla battling these issues, the situation speaks for itself.
