Blade Runner 2024 producers sue Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk; here’s why

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is being sued by Alcon Entertainment — a Los Angeles-based production company behind the science fiction film Blade Runner 2049. The company accuses Elon Musk of illegally using footage from the film to promote the new “robot taxi” Alcon Entertainment, backed by FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The lawsuit names Tesla and Discovery of Warner Bros. as accused.

What are the allegations against Elon Musk and Tesla

At the “We, Robot” event earlier this month, Tesla showed off its highly anticipated robotaxi featuring two swinging doors, no steering wheel or pedals. The complaint says Alcon rejected a request from Elon Musk and the companies to use footage from “Blade Runner 2049” as part of an Oct. 10 marketing event on the Warner site. “He did it anyway,” the lawsuit claims.
It says Musk did not use exact footage from “Blade Runner 2049.” Instead, the event featured “AI-created images mirroring scenes from “Blade Runner 2049,” including one featuring a Ryan Gosling lookalike. “more appealing to a global audience and hijack the ‘Blade Runner 2049’ brand to help sell Teslas.”
“Any prudent brand considering a partnership with Tesla must take into account Musk’s massively amplified, highly politicized, capricious and arbitrary behavior, which at times veers into hate speech,” Alcon’s suit says. “Alcon did not want BR2049 to be affiliated with Musk, Tesla, or any other Musk company, for all of these reasons.”

“The episode resembles the OpenAI-Scarlett Johansson incident”

Alcon says the episode bears a striking resemblance to an incident earlier this year involving actress Scarlett Johansson and artificial intelligence startup OpenAI. Despite her refusal, the actress said the ChatGPT creator used a voice called “Sky” that sounded “eerily like mine.”
Alcon’s suit does not specify exactly how much the company is seeking in damages. He says he believes Musk, Tesla and WBD all “understood the unauthorized nature of the image and the inappropriate purpose behind it and encouraged or provided support for this inappropriate endeavor.”