In an interesting twist on the classic "stop stealing our stuff" lawsuit that already has seen dozens of iterations against AI companies, today brings a slightly more complex form of alleged pilferage. Alcon Entertainment, a production company behind "Blade Runner 2049," is suing Tesla, Elon Musk, and Warner Bros. Digital for what they claim is a knowing evasion of its IP rights, according to Hollywood Reporter.

Musk had requested a license to use some Blade Runner imagery in an advertising campaign for Tesla's new science fiction concept cars as they broke cover on a Warner studio lot. Alcon refused to agree to allow such a license via Warner, and Tesla, at Musk's instigation, reportedly used that imagery as source material to create a convincingly similar AI-generated version of it. He then expatiated over the fake Blade Runner imagery, opining about the film itself, as you can see above.

The lawsuit claimed undetermined damages while also pushing for the court to bar Tesla from ever again spreading the controversial promotional materials.