‘Blade Runner 2049’ producer sues Tesla and Warner Bros. over AI footage

Film and television studio Alcon Entertainment on Monday sued Tesla and Warner Bros. Discovery over claims they used images linked to the movie “Blade Runner 2049” to promote Tesla’s new autonomous cybertaxi.

Alcon California Federal Government lawsuit alleged violations of US copyright law and accused Tesla of “false endorsement” for suggesting a relationship between Alcon and the electric vehicle maker owned by Elon Musk.

“Any prudent brand considering partnering with Tesla must take into account Musk’s vastly amplified, highly politicized, capricious, and arbitrary behavior, which sometimes devolves into hate speech,” the lawsuit says.

Tesla and Warner Bros. did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Warner Bros. was the Alcon distributor of “Blade Runner 2049,” which won two Academy Awards in 2018 and starred Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford in the highly anticipated sequel to the 1982 cult classic “Blade Runner.”

Alcon said it had rejected a request from Warner Bros. to use company footage for Tesla’s cybertaxi unveiling broadcast live on Oct. 10. Tesla then used AI-created images that mirrored the film for its cybertaxi eventthe lawsuit said.

In a statement, Alcon said the defendants’ “conduct is likely to cause confusion among customer partners of Alcon’s ‘Blade Runner’ brand, including those it is partnering with for its upcoming ‘Blade Runner 2099’ series to “Amazon Prime.”

The lawsuit does not mention specific damages, but says that Alcon had spent hundreds of millions of dollars building the Blade Runner 2049 brand and that the “financial magnitude of the misappropriation here was substantial.”