"Hey Elon, Can I have my designs back please?"
Prototypical Elon
The creative mind behind the 20-year-old Will Smith blockbuster "I, Robot" has noticed a striking resemblance between his film and Elon Musk's Tesla prototypes — and he's none too pleased.
"Hey Elon," tweeted Australian director Alex Proyas, "Can I have my designs back please?"
In the post's image attachment, stills from the film were posted next to mockups of forthcoming Tesla products.
While the company's bartending Optimus robots — which, as we learned were actually remote-controlled by humans — aren't exact replicas for the flick's uncannily-faced versions, its "Cybercab" and "Robotaxis" definitely bear striking resemblances to the film's designs.
Though there hasn't been any admission about the similarities, there's little chance they weren't intentional given that the event at which the new mockups were unveiled last week was literally named "We, Robot," leaving little room for plausible deniability.
This tongue-in-cheek nod has Musk written all over it — and is not, of course, the first time he's been accused of ripping someone else off, either.
Hey Elon, Can I have my designs back please? #ElonMusk #Elon_Musk pic.twitter.com/WPgxHevr6E
— Alex Proyas (@alex_proyas) October 13, 2024
Total Facepalm
Years prior to Cybertrucks actually being shipped out, people online have pointed out that that vehicle's design also bears a striking resemblance to a similarly geometric film car: the equally stainless steeled, two-doored cars from Paul Verhoeven's 1990 sci-fi movie "Total Recall."
For those who haven't seen it, the early 90s masterpiece also involves a built-out Mars colony, making it unlikely that the Mars-obsessed billionaire didn't intentionally make at least some visual nods to the movie's designs.
To be fair the #cybertruck has some historical antecedents. The Citroen BX is one (❤️🇫🇷) and Johnnycab from Total Recall is another... pic.twitter.com/eN2aI1Cyi2
— Harry Percival @hjwp@fosstodon.org (@hjwp) November 22, 2019
Ironically enough, there was a "total recall" event of all Cybertrucks on the road in April 2024 due to an accelerator pedal issue that required all 3,878 of them to be called in.
In short, while Musk in avid (if not ignorant) sci-fan fan, products from his companies are often inspired by speculative fiction — or ripped off, depending on your definition.
More on Tesla: Tesla's Disappointing Robotaxi Event Sent Shares of Uber and Lyft Soaring
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