Elon Musk: “I, Robot” director accuses him of plagiarism

Last week, Tesla boss Elon Musk (53) presented a self-driving taxi called Cybercap and the also autonomous bus Robovan. At the event in California, humanoid robots named Optimus were also running around – although it turned out that they did not act independently, but were controlled remotely.

One person was not very enthusiastic about the big robo presentation: Alex Proyas (61). The director (“The Crow”, “Dark City”) noticed that both the robots and the self-propelled vehicles looked suspiciously similar to models from his film “I, Robot” with Will Smith (56). That’s why the Australian trolled Elon Musk, of all places.

“Hey Elon, can I have my drafts back please”

“Hey Elon, can I have my designs back please,” Proyas wrote to the billionaire and Trump supporter. To do this, the filmmaker created an image collage in which he juxtaposed images from his 2004 film with Tesla products.

There is a certain similarity between Tesla’s Optimus and the androids from “I, Robot”. Both models have a wide, light chest and a taper around the hips. Unlike those from the film adaptation of the novel by Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), Musk’s robots do not have a human-like face.

Amazing similarity in cars

The Robovan is more similar to a chunky, toaster-shaped vehicle from “I, Robot”. The same goes for the Cybercap, which, like Will Smith’s car in the film, is equipped with a door that opens at an upward angle. Albeit in different directions.

Even though there is criticism of Elon Musk and his presumably unimaginative designers, many commentators on X side with the platform owner. They point out that Alex Proyas only used predecessors from the history of science fiction for his film.

When it comes to the name of the event at which Cybercap and Co. were introduced, Tesla definitely copied Alex Proya’s film or his novel. Their motto was “We, Robot.”