Elon Musk, Tesla, and Warner Bros. Discovery are facing a copyright infringement lawsuit for using a still from the movie "Blade Runner 2049" and recreating the scene using AI technology to promote Tesla's Robotaxi, despite the makers' denial of permission.
U.S. film production company Alcon Entertainment, helmed by Frederick W. Smith, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, naming Musk-owned Tesla and Warner Bros. Discovery as defendants. The lawsuit, reported by the New York Times, cited grievances against Musk's Oct. 10 launch event of Tesla's self-driving robotaxi "Cybercab" where the business mogul allegedly showcased "A.I.-created images mirroring scenes from "Blade Runner 2049," including one featuring a Ryan Gosling look-alike," the lawsuit read.
The Cybercab is Tesla's ambitious project, referred to as "dedicated robotaxi." The company aims to start Cybercab mass productions by 2027 at a price point below $30,000.
The civil suit in Los Angeles federal court alleged that "Alcon refused all permissions "and adamantly objected to Defendants suggesting any affiliation between BR2049 and Tesla, Musk or any Musk-owned company."
Alcon claimed that the defendants conducted "a massive economic theft" by creating AI-powered near-identical images of the iconic scene and showing it on a live stream for 11 seconds as Musk spoke.
"Defendants then used an apparently AI-generated faked image to do it all anyway," the lawsuit stated, according to NBC. "During those 11 seconds, Musk tried awkwardly to explain why he was showing the audience a picture of BR2049 when he was supposed to be talking about his new product," stated the suit. "He really had no credible reason."
Alcon referenced a similar incident involving OpenAI and Scarlett Johansson. Johansson declined to grant OpenAI a voice license, but the company nonetheless used a voice that sounded close, named "Sky." Following Johansson's strong concerns, OpenAI discontinued support for AI technologies that mimicked the voices of celebrities and removed the voice option.
The complaint stated that Alcon denied a request to allow Musk to use imagery from the film because of his "highly politicized, capricious and arbitrary behavior, which sometimes veers into hate speech," which often veers toward hate.
"If, as here, a company or its principals do not actually agree with Musk's extreme political and social views, then a potential brand affiliation with Tesla is even more issue- fraught," the suit said.
