Movie director’s attack on Elon Musk’s ‘stolen’ Tesla design is a bit of a stretch

Tesla recently unveiled a bunch of new prototypes at its ‘We, Robot’ event in Los Angeles. And by ‘a bunch’, we mean literally 20 vehicles. And of course, the event was filled with Tesla Optimus robots interacting with guests and serving drinks – naturally. If you think the whole thing sounds straight out of a dystopian sci-fi movie, you’re not alone – so does the director of a dystopian sci-fi movie.

I, Robot director Alex Proyas took to Twitter (sorry, X) this week to accuse Elon Musk of lifting his designs and ideas, highlighting three separate new Tesla products that do indeed bear striking similarities to designs from his 2004 film. But with Musk’s event titled ‘We, Robot’, is Proyas really surprised?

Viewed 5.4M times on X (above), Proyas’s post highlights the Optimus robot, Cybervan and Cybercab to counterparts from the movie. From the slanted front of the ‘van’ to the diagonally lifting doors of the ‘cab’, the designs are indeed alike. But as several users have pointed out, Proyas’s designs arguably weren’t brand new in the first place. 

From Art Deco era locomotive trains to ‘humanoid’ robots from 1920s films such as Metropolis, we’ve seen plenty of these design hallmarks before. Indeed, the slanted front of both Proyas’s and Tesla’s train/van designs is much akin to train designs of the 1920s and ’30s.

“You know someone is now going to go and find pictures that predate yours, and claim you stole from them?” One X user (correctly) responds to Proyas, while another adds, “Ahem *clears throat* The original humanoid robot From Metropolis, Art Deco era locomotives, and the 1939 Duesenberg Coupe would all like a word.”

And of course, it’s not as though Musk is wearing his sci-fi cinema influences lightly. ‘AI from the movies‘ is becoming an increasingly tactile proposition, and from the title of the We, Robot event to his frequent referencing of Blade Runner, it’s clear that the X owner is keen to see these things become a reality. 

Of course, another question is whether Tesla’s vehicular design actually looks good. The Cybertruck has been widely mocked for its huge, boxy shape, and the rest of the vehicles Telsa unveiled this week are likely going to stick out just as much on the road, with their minimal, geometric shapes. Still, perhaps they’ll make good wallpapers.