‘I, Robot’ director accuses Musk of stealing his robot and vehicle designs

[JACK AYLMER]

THE DIRECTOR OF THE HIT SCIFI FILM ‘I, ROBOT’ IS TAKING AIM AT ELON MUSK, ACCUSING TESLA OF COPYING ROBOT AND VEHICLE DESIGNS FROM HIS 2004 FILM FOR THE COMPANY’S NEW LINEUP OF AUTONOMOUS PRODUCTS.

AFTER TESLA’S UNVEILING OF THE OPTIMUS ROBOT, ROBOTAXI, AND ROBOVAN AT THE “WE, ROBOT” EVENT, ALEX PROYAS POSTED ON X, “CAN I HAVE MY DESIGNS BACK PLEASE?”

TESLA’S EVENT SHOWCASED ITS LATEST INNOVATIONS, INCLUDING THE CYBERCAB, A SLEEKER, TWO-SEATER VERSION OF THE CYBERTRUCK, AND THE ROBOVAN, WHICH CAN TRANSPORT UP TO 20 PASSENGERS.

WHILE MUSK’S BOLD CLAIMS ABOUT THE AFFORDABILITY OF AUTONOMOUS DRIVING—PROJECTING THE CYBERCAB’S COST AT JUST 20-CENTS A MILE – EXCITED MANY FANS, THE INTERNET QUICKLY NOTICED THE STRIKING SIMILARITIES BETWEEN TESLA’S DESIGNS AND THOSE IN I, ROBOT. OPTIMUS WAS COMPARED TO THE FILM’S NS5 ROBOTS, WHILE THE ROBOTAXI CLOSELY RESEMBLED THE AUDI RSQ FEATURED ON SCREEN.

TESLA’S PUSH TOWARD AUTONOMOUS TECHNOLOGY DATES BACK TO MUSK’S 2019 PROMISES OF SELF-DRIVING ROBOTAXIS HITTING THE ROADS WITHIN A YEAR. HOWEVER, THOSE PREDICTIONS HAVE BEEN REPEATEDLY DELAYED. THE CYBERCAB NOW REPRESENTS A KEY PART OF TESLA’S VISION TO RUN A RIDE-HAILING FLEET, SIMILAR TO UBER, BUT USING AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES.

DESPITE THE FANFARE, TESLA FACES SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES IN COMMERCIALIZATION THE CYBERCAB, WHICH LACKS STEERING WHEELS AND PEDALS, COULD FACE REGULATORY OBSTACLES, AS SIMILAR VEHICLES HAVE STRUGGLED TO GAIN APPROVAL IN THE U.S.

TESLA MUST ALSO PROVE THAT ITS AUTONOMOUS DRIVING SOFTWARE, WHICH RELIES SOLELY ON CAMERAS, CAN OPERATE SAFELY WITHOUT HUMAN INTERVENTION—AN ACHIEVEMENT IT HAS YET TO REACH DESPITE YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT.

THE DEBATE OVER WHETHER TESLA’S DESIGNS ARE AN HOMAGE TO OR A DIRECT IMITATION OF I, ROBOT HAS SPARKED BROADER DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCIENCE FICTION AND REAL-WORLD TECHNOLOGY. IN THE MEANTIME, TESLA’S VISION OF FULLY AUTONOMOUS TRANSPORT REMAINS A WORK IN PROGRESS, WITH PRODUCTION OF THE CYBERCAB EXPECTED TO BEGIN BY 2026.