Cryptopolitan
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Musk Wants Suit Over Tesla’s Use of AI-generated ‘Blade Runner’ Imagery Dropped
Elon Musk’s lawyers plan to ask the court to drop a case against him and his company. The case claims that Musk, who leads Tesla, used AI-created images that violate copyright and look like “Blade Runner” at a Tesla press event.
The filing shows that both Musk and Tesla are named as defendants in the suit. The filing was filed to the U.S. District Court Central District of California, Western Division late Tuesday, whereby attorneys for Musk said that both Musk and Tesla will move to dismiss all claims for relief with prejudice.
Musk is pushing to dismiss a suit claiming Tesla used AI-generated 'Blade Runner' imagery without consent. This case highlights a troubling trend: big names exploiting creatives’ work while skirting proper compensation. If this goes unchecked, what’s left of creativity in tech? pic.twitter.com/FNrRRlUbLU
— Pablo Carmona Esparza (@pblcrmn) February 5, 2025
“With prejudice” means that a case is dropped forever and can’t be brought back to court. On the other hand, the filing shows that the plaintiff in the suit, Alcon Entertainment, intends to oppose the motion.
Where it all began
In October 2024, Alcon, the company that made the 2017 movie Blade Runner 2049, sued Musk, Tesla, and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). They said that Musk and the others intentionally ignored their intellectual property rights.
Alcon’s lawsuit says that Musk and WBD requested to use images from “Blade Runner 2049” to promote Tesla’s new concept cars. This was just hours before the cars were revealed on a Warner studio lot.
When Alcon refused to give the rights through WBD, the lawsuit claims that Tesla, following Musk’s orders, got that footage to recreate it using an AI model. Musk displayed what he claimed were fake “Blade Runner” images during the event while discussing the movie.
In addition, Alcon says in its lawsuit that it was never informed about any agreements between Tesla and WBD that were needed before Tesla’s press conference. The production company wants to stop Tesla from using certain promotional materials and is also seeking damages.
The original complaint filed by Alcon’s legal team reads:
Based on past actual brand affiliation contracts for automotive partners on BR2049 [BladeRunner 2049], Tesla likely would have had to make significant expenditures at least in the mid-six-figures (at least $500,000) and possibly into the eight figures ($10 million or more) to obtain a BR2049 brand affiliation with Tesla and the [company’s] cybercab [robotaxi] at market value, if Alcon had even been willing to do it at all […] The copyright infringements here facilitated allowing Tesla to save this expenditure.
Alcon
Musk, who is now part of the US administration, seems to have confidence that the law will work in his favor. People have expressed their disappointment, calling it a worrying pattern. They say that if this is not addressed well the creatives will continue to be taken advantage of. However, at the end of the day, it is up to the judge to decide.
Tesla paid Robotaxis to start in June
Elon Musk promised investors at a year-end results call that the company will launch a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Austin, Texas, by the middle of this year. He made a statement, “We’re going to be launching unsupervised Full Self-Driving as a paid service in Austin in June.”
For their first robotaxis, they will use Model 3 and Model Y cars instead of the Cybercab. However, it won’t start production until at least 2026.
Musk said, “Our solution is a generalized AI solution […] It doesn’t require high-precision maps of a locality, so we just want to be cautious.”
Tesla cars have been working on their own at the factory in Fremont, California. They have announced that this will soon happen at the Austin plant and other locations worldwide. The company also plans to extend its robotaxi service to more places in the U.S. by the end of the year.
Musk is rooting on the robotaxis to make Tesla worth more than $15 trillion. This could exceed the total value of Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet, and Amazon. This would mean a rise of about 10 times its current value.
He argues that self-driving cars could work 50-55 hours a week, while regular cars usually drive for only 10 hours a week.
The electric car company sold 1.79 million vehicles in 2024, which is less than the 1.81 million sold in 2023. Investors seem to care more about CEO Elon Musk’s bold predictions and the company’s future projects.
Meanwhile, Tesla’s stock started with an upward trajectory in February 2025, trading at $392.21 per share with a market capitalization of $1.3 trillion. However, it has recorded a decline of 10% in the last 24 hours.
Cryptopolitan Academy: Are You Making These Web3 Resume Mistakes? - Find Out Here
The filing shows that both Musk and Tesla are named as defendants in the suit. The filing was filed to the U.S. District Court Central District of California, Western Division late Tuesday, whereby attorneys for Musk said that both Musk and Tesla will move to dismiss all claims for relief with prejudice.
Musk is pushing to dismiss a suit claiming Tesla used AI-generated 'Blade Runner' imagery without consent. This case highlights a troubling trend: big names exploiting creatives’ work while skirting proper compensation. If this goes unchecked, what’s left of creativity in tech? pic.twitter.com/FNrRRlUbLU
— Pablo Carmona Esparza (@pblcrmn) February 5, 2025
“With prejudice” means that a case is dropped forever and can’t be brought back to court. On the other hand, the filing shows that the plaintiff in the suit, Alcon Entertainment, intends to oppose the motion.
Where it all began
In October 2024, Alcon, the company that made the 2017 movie Blade Runner 2049, sued Musk, Tesla, and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). They said that Musk and the others intentionally ignored their intellectual property rights.
Alcon’s lawsuit says that Musk and WBD requested to use images from “Blade Runner 2049” to promote Tesla’s new concept cars. This was just hours before the cars were revealed on a Warner studio lot.
When Alcon refused to give the rights through WBD, the lawsuit claims that Tesla, following Musk’s orders, got that footage to recreate it using an AI model. Musk displayed what he claimed were fake “Blade Runner” images during the event while discussing the movie.
In addition, Alcon says in its lawsuit that it was never informed about any agreements between Tesla and WBD that were needed before Tesla’s press conference. The production company wants to stop Tesla from using certain promotional materials and is also seeking damages.
The original complaint filed by Alcon’s legal team reads:
Based on past actual brand affiliation contracts for automotive partners on BR2049 [BladeRunner 2049], Tesla likely would have had to make significant expenditures at least in the mid-six-figures (at least $500,000) and possibly into the eight figures ($10 million or more) to obtain a BR2049 brand affiliation with Tesla and the [company’s] cybercab [robotaxi] at market value, if Alcon had even been willing to do it at all […] The copyright infringements here facilitated allowing Tesla to save this expenditure.
Alcon
Musk, who is now part of the US administration, seems to have confidence that the law will work in his favor. People have expressed their disappointment, calling it a worrying pattern. They say that if this is not addressed well the creatives will continue to be taken advantage of. However, at the end of the day, it is up to the judge to decide.
Tesla paid Robotaxis to start in June
Elon Musk promised investors at a year-end results call that the company will launch a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Austin, Texas, by the middle of this year. He made a statement, “We’re going to be launching unsupervised Full Self-Driving as a paid service in Austin in June.”
For their first robotaxis, they will use Model 3 and Model Y cars instead of the Cybercab. However, it won’t start production until at least 2026.
Musk said, “Our solution is a generalized AI solution […] It doesn’t require high-precision maps of a locality, so we just want to be cautious.”
Tesla cars have been working on their own at the factory in Fremont, California. They have announced that this will soon happen at the Austin plant and other locations worldwide. The company also plans to extend its robotaxi service to more places in the U.S. by the end of the year.
Musk is rooting on the robotaxis to make Tesla worth more than $15 trillion. This could exceed the total value of Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet, and Amazon. This would mean a rise of about 10 times its current value.
He argues that self-driving cars could work 50-55 hours a week, while regular cars usually drive for only 10 hours a week.
The electric car company sold 1.79 million vehicles in 2024, which is less than the 1.81 million sold in 2023. Investors seem to care more about CEO Elon Musk’s bold predictions and the company’s future projects.
Meanwhile, Tesla’s stock started with an upward trajectory in February 2025, trading at $392.21 per share with a market capitalization of $1.3 trillion. However, it has recorded a decline of 10% in the last 24 hours.
Cryptopolitan Academy: Are You Making These Web3 Resume Mistakes? - Find Out Here
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