Elon Musk accused of copying designs by I, Robot director

The director of 2004 sci-fi film I, Robot has accused billionaire Elon Musk of copying his designs for humanoid machines and self-driving vehicles.

At a Tesla event on Thursday, Musk unveiled Tesla’s futuristic Cybercab, complete with winged doors and no steering wheel or pedals, and a new look at its Optimus robots.

But the “We, Robot” showcase, playing on the title of an Isaac Asimov short story collection, also caught the eye of I, Robot director Alex Proyas.

The filmmaker, whose film stars Will Smith as a detective sceptical of seemingly obedient androids, accused Musk of copying his work in a post on X.

“Hey Elon, can I have my designs back please,” Proyas said in a post viewed 6.4 million times.

The Australian film director said he had worked with a “very talented design team” to create the film’s visuals in a response to someone querying their own originality in a comment on an Instagram post.

“Elon Musk on the other hand has a not so talented design team who watched a lot of movies, including I, Robot it seems,” he said.

Patrick Tatopoulos, the film’s production designer, later reposted the image comparing the film’s designs and images from Tesla’s event side by side in his own post on Instagram.

“Maybe it is just me, or should I feel honoured that Elon found some inspiration in my I, Robot designs,” Mr Tatopoulos wrote.

“Either way it’s fun to watch,” he added.

The claims made by Proyas have been met with scepticism online, however, with some claiming his own film is derivative.

Several people replied to his post on X with images of the feminised cyborg in Fritz Lang’s German expressionist film, Metropolis, from 1927.

But it is not the first time people have queried whether tech companies look to sci-fi cinema and novels for ideas – especially as firms develop new gadgets and robotics to capitalise on interest in generative artificial intelligence (AI).

Mr Musk has previously said he was inspired by Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which features humanoid robot Marvin the Paranoid Android.

Grok, his AI chatbot “with a little humour” designed for use on X, was later revealed to be modelled on it.

And he has also called Tesla’s futuristic Cybertruck “an armoured personnel carrier from the future” that “Bladerunner would have driven”.

Meanwhile OpenAI boss Sam Altman appeared to confirm comparisons drawn between a flirty, new voice unveiled for ChatGPT and a virtual assistant played by Scarlett Johansson in the 2013 film Her in a post on X in May.

The firm removed its “Sky” voice following criticism over its similarity to Ms Johansson’s – saying it was not intended to be an “imitation”.

The actress said she was left “angered” and “shocked” at the company’s apparent use of a soundalike.