'Blade Runner 2049' Producer Elon Musk Sues Tesla, Warner Bros. Discovery Over AI Image

A production company for Blade Runner 2049 sued Tesla, which it accused of feeding movie images into an artificial intelligence image generator to create unlicensed promotional material.

Alcon Entertainment, in a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in California, accused Elon Musk and his autonomous vehicle company of misappropriating the movie brand to promote its Robotaxi in a surprise unveiling earlier this month. The producer said he didn't want it Blade Runner 2049 An upcoming TV series should be associated with Musk because of his “extreme political and social views,” pointing to ongoing efforts with potential partners.

The complaint, which brings claims of copyright infringement and false endorsements, also names Warner Bros. Discovery as allegedly facilitating the partnership.

“Any sane brand considering the Tesla partnership would have to accept Musk's pervasive, highly political, playful and arbitrary behavior, which sometimes devolves into hate speech,” the complaint states. “Alcon Joins China BR2049 Mask.”

Tesla partnered with Warners for the Robotaxi showcase, which was done from a studio lot, the lawsuit says. In the presentation, Musk arrived on stage in a “cybercab” before showing a male figure in a trench coat as he surveyed the abandoned ruins of a city bathed in a hazy, orange light. In the upper left corner, the words “It's not” are spelled out in the sky

This image was “clearly intended to be read visually” as a real still Blade Runner 2049The iconic sequence of Ryan Gosling's character exploring a ruined Las Vegas. Alcon claims it was created by copying images from the film and asking an AI image generator for a replica, in apparent disclaimer of the company's licensing rights.

Musk referenced the Denis Villeneuve sci-fi epic directly in his comments. “You know, I love 'Blade Runner,' but I don't know if we want that future,” he said. “I believe we want the chandelier he's wearing, but uh, not the dark apocalypse.”

The suit cites an agreement, the details of which are unknown to Alcon, to lease or license studio lot space, access and other facilities to Tesla for Warners events. Alcon alleged that the deal included promotional elements that allowed Tesla to tie its products to WBD movies.

WBD was Alcon's domestic distributor for the 2017 release of Blade Runner 2049. It has limited clip licensing rights, though not for Tesla's livestreamed TV events, the lawsuit claims. Alcon said it was not informed of the brand deal until the day of the unveiling.

According to the complaint, Musk contacted WBD that he wanted to add Robotaxi to the film. He asked the company for permission to use a still from the movie directly, prompting an employee to send an urgent request to Alcon for permission because international rights would be involved, the suit says. The producer refused, encouraging AI to create the images.

“All defendants participated in, operated by, or participated in its creation and presentation at events, its display, from WBDI-owned buildings and studio lots, on WBDI-owned video screens, and otherwise using WBDI-owned technology infrastructure. Together with Tesla employees, all work in whole or in part subject to Musk's direction and control,” the complaint states.

Alcon is seeking unspecified damages, as well as a court order barring Tesla from distributing the controversial promotional material.