Movie director accuses Musk of stealing his designs

Movie director Alex Proyas has accused billionaire Elon Musk of reusing designs shown in the 2004 adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s ‘I, Robot’ book series.

The electric car company Tesla hosted an event called ‘We, Robot’ last week, with the name playing on the title of the world-famous series of short sci-fi stories. Musk, who is the firm’s CEO, showed off revamped Optimus humanoid robots and new self-driving vehicle designs at the reception in Burbank, California.

”Hey Elon, Can I have my designs back please?” Proyas said on X on Sunday, posting side-by-side comparisons between what was shown by Tesla and what was featured in the film that he directed, which starred Will Smith in the lead role of a robot-skeptical police detective.

The entrepreneur did not respond to the thinly veiled accusation of IP theft, but some of his supporters pointed out that the designs used in the 2004 movie may not be as original as implied, and showed possible inspirations in art and car designs dating back decades.

’I, Robot’ was praised by critics for its production value, though some fans of Asimov’s works complained about the thematic drift from logical puzzles and ethical conundrums to an action-packed story driven by a conspiracy. Critics claim that Proyas’s interpretation has clear technophobic undertones, not unlike James Cameron’s ‘The Terminator’, rather than Asimov’s optimism about improvement in human living conditions brought about by advanced technology.

Tesla’s presentation, which was aimed at fans and investors, was mired by additional controversy when some people suggested that the Optimus androids present at the event were at least partially operated by humans via remote control.

The conjecture was based on the complex behavior of the robots, supported by sources cited by Bloomberg and at least one interaction filmed at the scene.