The director of the movie I, Robot has called out Elon Musk for using his designs in the newly announced Tesla products.
The recent Tesla ‘We, Robot’ event caused a stir on social media after guests were met with a driverless Cybercab and AI robots.
Musk revealed that the fully autonomous vehicle will go into product in 2027 and is expected to cost less than $30,000.
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It’s hoped that the car will be able to run as a taxi-service when its owner doesn’t need it and, in theory, the car could earn money working a night-shift while its owner is asleep.
The Optimus robot is planned to be a humanoid companion that assists with household chores, including walking the dog and retrieving parcels from the mail.
At the event, Musk said: “What can it do? It can be a teacher, babysit your kids, it can walk your dog, mow your lawn, get the groceries, just be your friend, serve drinks. Whatever you can think of, it will do.
“I think this will be the biggest product ever, of any kind. I think everyone is going to want their Optimus buddy, maybe two.”
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While the new products have received a mixed reaction, one person in particular was very critical of the innovation, especially as he claimed that he originally thought of them.
There has been a lot of talk online about the similarities with the Cybercab and Tesla robots with fictional technology that featured in the 2004 movie, I, Robot.
The director of the film, Alex Proyas, took to X, formerly Twitter to address Musk directly, writing: “Hey Elon, Can I have my designs back please?”
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He accompanied the tweet with side-by-side comparison images.
Many people have taken to social media to share their own thoughts and reactions to the Tesla event.
Over on Reddit, one user shared that they had also noticed similarities to the sci-fi movie, writing: “This was my immediate thought when the van rolled out. It looked just like the robot transport that attacked Will Smith in the tunnel.”
Another said: “The movie will last longer than those robots.”
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A third claimed: “All ‘his ideas’ come from sci-fi.”
It’s expected that the humanoid robots could be available to buy as early as next year but not everyone is as convinced of this timeline.
One person wrote: “LMAO the ones at the event weren’t even autonomous, they had humans operating them with a wireless control system. End of 2024 is hilarious!”