Alcon settles Blade Runner AI claim with Warner Bros. Discovery

Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros. Discovery told a federal court they have settled Alcon's claim that the studio helped Tesla make unlicensed, AI-generated promotional material from Blade Runner 2049, while Alcon's copyright claim against Tesla and Elon Musk continues.

The two companies notified the court of the deal, The Hollywood Reporter reported on November 5, 2026. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. "Alcon and WBD have reached a settlement," the filing said.

The settlement resolves Alcon's case against the studio. Alcon had accused Warner Bros. Discovery of direct and contributory copyright infringement. The court dismissed the direct claim, finding the studio was not responsible for overseeing Tesla's work on the presentation, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Alcon sued Tesla, Musk and Warner Bros. Discovery on October 21, 2024, 11 days after Tesla's "We, Robot" event at Warner Bros. Discovery's studio lot in Burbank, California. Tesla used the event to unveil its Cybercab robotaxi, a Robovan concept and an updated Optimus robot.

At the event, Musk showed an image of a male figure in a trench coat surveying the abandoned ruins of a city bathed in misty orange light. Alcon alleged the image was intended to be understood as an actual still from the sequence in which Ryan Gosling's character explores a ruined Las Vegas, according to the complaint. Musk referred to the film from the stage, saying he wanted the coat the character wore but "not the bleak apocalypse."

According to the complaint, Warner Bros. Discovery contacted Alcon the day before the event to request specific images and clips for the presentation, and Alcon refused hours before it began. An 11-second slide carrying an AI-generated image appeared anyway. Alcon said it refused because it did not want the film affiliated with Musk, Tesla or any Musk company, citing conduct it said "veers into hate speech." Alcon also cited talks with potential partners for a television series tied to the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The case asks whether creating a visual with an AI image generator by copying a portion of a copyrighted work without a license constitutes copyright infringement. Tesla and Musk have argued fair use, the doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without a license. They have said Musk used the image to argue for autonomous vehicles by criticizing the "dark and dismal" dystopian future the film depicts, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The procedural record has largely favored the studio. U.S. District Judge George Wu dismissed Alcon's trademark claims against Tesla, Musk and Warner Bros. Discovery in 2025, Reuters reported. The direct copyright claim against the studio was dismissed on the finding that Warner Bros. Discovery was not responsible for supervising Tesla's work.

Tesla has fared less well. In April 2025, Wu declined to dismiss Alcon's direct copyright claim against Tesla, pointing to Tesla's last-minute request for permission, which was denied hours before the event, and "several similarities" between the promotional material and the film's stills. In a tentative ruling in February 2026, Wu said Alcon had a "seemingly valid and plausible theory" of infringement and that it was too early to decide whether the use was fair use, Reuters reported. Alcon said in a statement that the ruling reflected that it had "raised serious copyright law issues regarding defendants' conduct that is going to require discovery to resolve if the parties are unable to reach a settlement first."

Alcon is seeking unspecified damages and a court order barring further distribution of the material, Enstarz reported. Warner Bros. Discovery and Alcon did not immediately respond to requests for comment, The Hollywood Reporter reported.

The copyright claim against Tesla and Musk is the last part of the case still in dispute.

The copyright claim against Tesla and Elon Musk continues in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, where the judge has yet to decide whether the use was fair use.