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Elevate Magazine
October 22, 2024

Elon Musk Faces Lawsuit Over AI-Generated Imagery at Robotaxi Event

elon musk faces lawsuit over ai generated imagery at robotaxi event

Photo source: Flickr

Elon Musk is facing a lawsuit for allegedly utilising AI-generated imagery reminiscent of the movie Blade Runner 2049 during its recent robotaxi event.

Alcon Entertainment, the production company behind Blade Runner 2049, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Tesla, its CEO Elon Musk, and Warner Bros. Discovery. The complaint arises from Tesla’s We, Robot event, where promotional material allegedly mimicked visuals from the 2017 sci-fi film.

According to Alcon, the lawsuit was initiated after they denied a request from Warner Bros. Discovery to use imagery from Blade Runner 2049 on October 10, just hours before the event took place at the Warner Bros. studio lot in California.

Despite Alcon’s refusal, Tesla reportedly used an AI image generator to create a “lightly stylised fake screen still” that was prominently displayed during the presentation. Musk even referenced the Blade Runner franchise while discussing futuristic concepts during the event.

Alcon’s suit emphasises that while Warner Bros. holds some licensing rights related to Blade Runner 2049, any clearance for images intended for international livestreaming required direct authorisation from Alcon. When alerted to the situation, Alcon’s legal team promptly rejected the request to prevent any misunderstandings regarding the event’s conduct.

The lawsuit states that, “Any prudent brand considering any Tesla partnership has to take Musk’s massively amplified, highly politicised, capricious and arbitrary behaviour, which sometimes veers into hate speech, into account.”

Alcon expressed concerns about associating Blade Runner 2049 with Musk and his companies due to his controversial public persona.

In addition to alleging copyright infringement, Alcon claims it was not informed of any agreements between Tesla and Warner Bros. that would have facilitated the use of their imagery. They believe that such agreements might have included promotional elements that improperly linked Tesla’s Cybercab with films from Warner Bros.’ catalogue.

While Alcon has not specified an exact amount for damages sought in the lawsuit, it asserts that Musk, Tesla, and Warner Bros. were aware of the unauthorised nature of the images used and supported this inappropriate endeavour.