Blade Runner 2049 production company Alcon Entertainment is suing Tesla, Elon Musk, and Warner Bros. Discovery over their alleged use of AI-generated imagery based on the film in a promotional event for Tesla's new Cybercab. The suit, available via Variety, claims the defendants opted for the AI image after Alcon "refused all permissions and adamantly objected to Defendants suggesting any affiliation between BR2049 and Tesla, Musk or any Musk-owned company."
Tesla's We, Robot event faced some earlier backlash over the presence of Tesla robots, which were implied to be AI-driven and autonomous but were more likely being controlled by human operators. But this is much more serious: The lawsuit claims Tesla asked for permission to use a still image from Blade Runner 2049 for the event, and when Alcon refused it simply fed images from the film into an AI image generator, along with instructions to make "a lightly stylized fake screen still from BR2049."
