The production company behind Blade Runner 2049, Alcon Entertainment, has filed a lawsuit against Tesla, Elon Musk, and Warner Bros Discovery, accusing them of using imagery from the film without permission.
The legal action stems from the 10 October launch event for Tesla’s long-awaited robotaxi, where Alcon claims AI-generated promotional material was based on visuals from the 2017 film.
According to Alcon, Warner Bros had previously requested permission to use content from Blade Runner 2049 for the event, but the company had explicitly refused.
Despite this, Alcon alleges that Tesla and the event organisers went ahead and created imagery inspired by the movie.
In the lawsuit, Alcon highlights the financial significance of the alleged misappropriation and warns that any brand considering a partnership with Tesla must account for Elon Musk’s unpredictable and often politically charged behaviour, which the suit claims can sometimes “veer into hate speech.”
The lawsuit also accuses the event organisers of creating a “false endorsement” by implying a connection between Alcon and Tesla.
Warner Bros, which hosted the robotaxi launch at one of its studios, was the distributor of Blade Runner 2049 when it was released.
Blade Runner 2049—the sequel to the 1982 sci-fi classic—starred Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, and Ana de Armas and won two Academy Awards. Elon Musk has previously mentioned the original Blade Runner film as an inspiration for Tesla’s designs, particularly the Cybertruck.
Alcon is also currently producing a spinoff series, Blade Runner 2099.
In a separate incident, I, Robot director Alex Proyas also accused Musk of copying designs for humanoid robots and self-driving vehicles from his 2004 film.
Proyas took issue with the title of Tesla’s event, We, Robot, which he said resembled Isaac Asimov’s short story collection and his film.
Proyas posted on X (formerly Twitter) jokingly asking Musk to “return his designs.” However, the claim received mixed reactions online, with some arguing that I, Robot itself drew inspiration from earlier works.
