'Blade Runner 2049' producers sue Elon Musk and Tesla over AI image at robotaxi event

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A film production company that helped make “Blade Runner 2049” has sued Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk for using an AI-generated image resembling a scene from the science fiction movie to market Tesla's new robotaxis.

Alcon Entertainment said it refused all permissions but Tesla allegedly used artificial intelligence to “do it all anyway” when the carmaker unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi on Oct. 10 during a live-streamed event at a Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank, California.

After pulling up to the stage in one of the company’s “Cybercabs,” Musk gave a speech that included a brief reference to the movie franchise. As he spoke, a screen showed an image of a man in a long coat looking over an orange-tinted ruined city. Alcon claims it resembles a key scene in which star Ryan Gosling arrives by “quasi-sentient flying car” to an abandoned Las Vegas.

“I love Blade Runner, but I don’t know if we want that future," Musk said. "I think we want that duster he’s wearing, but not the bleak apocalypse.”

A copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Alcon this week in a Southern California federal court alleges that defendants had asked permission to use images from the movie “mere hours” before the event but Alcon “refused all permissions and adamantly objected.”

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Alcon is also suing Warner Bros, the movie's distributor that hosted Musk's robotaxi event. Warner Bros. Discovery didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Alcon, which is working on a spinoff “Blade Runner 2099” series for Amazon, said it is in talks with automakers about brand collaborations but has avoided affiliating with Tesla because of Musk's “extreme political and social views” and his “massively amplified, highly politicized, capricious and arbitrary behavior, which sometimes veers into hate speech.”

'Blade Runner 2049' producers sue Elon Musk and Tesla over AI image at robotaxi event

'Blade Runner 2049' producers sue Elon Musk and Tesla over AI image at robotaxi event

The logo of Tesla car is pictured at the Paris Auto Show, in Paris, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A fire at an unregistered nursing home in western Sri Lanka killed 12 residents and injured eight others, police said Thursday.

The fire started late Wednesday at the home in Anguruwatota town. Fifty-one residents were rescued, police spokesman Fredrick Wootler said. He said people with mental illnesses were also housed there.

The director of the home was arrested on suspicion of causing deaths through negligence. He appeared before a court and was ordered to be detained for a week while an investigation is underway.

Associated Press footage showed the building gutted with its charred furniture and equipment. Bodies lay nearby.

Local television channel Hiru showed image of firefighters, police and residents trying to contain the raging fire. Those rescued were assisted by police and soldiers in boarding buses to a safe location.

Chathura Mihudum, director of the National Secretariat for Elders, said the facility was not registered as a nursing home and had been warned to follow laws and guidelines.

He said it was overcrowded with beds for just about 15 people in a space where 71 people were living.

Government officials had previously visited the institution and had instructed the management to follow laws, he said, without elaborating.

Sri Lankan police and judiciary officials inspect a charred elderly care home following an overnight fire in Anguruwatota, Sri Lanka, Thursday, June 4, 2026.(AP Photo)

Sri Lankan police and judiciary officials inspect a charred elderly care home following an overnight fire in Anguruwatota, Sri Lanka, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo)

A Sri Lankan police officer inspects a charred elderly care home following an overnight fire in Anguruwatota, Sri Lanka, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo)

Sri Lankan army soldiers stand outside looking at the debris of a charred elderly care home in Anguruwatota, Sri Lanka, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo)

Sri Lankan army soldiers stand outside looking at the debris of a charred elderly care home in Anguruwatota, Sri Lanka, Thursday, June 4, 2026.(AP Photo)