Hollywood film director accuses Elon Musk of copying robot designs

Alex Proyas suggests Tesla Optimus borrowed heavily from hit science fiction movie I, Robot

A Hollywood director has accused Elon Musk of copying his designs from a film featuring a self-driving taxi and humanoid robots.
Alex Proyas, who directed the 2004 science fiction film I, Robot starring Will Smith, suggested in a post on X that Mr Musk’s new products had imitated his creations. 
The film-maker posted a series of stills from the movie alongside Mr Musk’s Tesla Optimus robot, its two-seater Cybercab and a concept image for a “robovan”.
Mr Proyas wrote: “Hey Elon, can I have my designs back please?”
Hey Elon, Can I have my designs back please? #ElonMusk #Elon_Musk pic.twitter.com/WPgxHevr6E
The Cybercab – Tesla’s planned $30,000 two-seater taxi – will have butterfly-style wing doors and no steering wheel, similar to the cars in Mr Proyas’s film adaptation of the 1950 book by Isaac Asimov, in which robots turn on their human masters. Mr Musk said mass production of the vehicle could begin in 2026.
The billionaire also showed off a new version of the company’s bipedal Optimus robot, which Mr Proyas suggested appeared similar to the “NS-5” robots which go rogue in his film.
However, while Mr Proyas suggested Tesla had been inspired by his designs, fans of the film also pointed out that the car driven by the protagonist in I, Robot, was based on a concept car designed by Audi, included in the movie as product placement. 
The film, set in the year 2035, stars Smith as a Chicago police detective sceptical of the seemingly friendly robots that have been created to serve mankind.
In the film, an artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer uses the domestic robots to try and take control over humanity, warning mankind faces extinction if it resists. Mr Proyas is also known for directing the 1994 film The Crow, which starred Bruce Lee’s son, Brandon Lee, who died in a freak accident on-set.
Mr Musk, who has warned that AI could present an existential risk to humanity, revealed the Cybercab at an event in Hollywood last Thursday. The event was called “We, Robot”, a reference to the 1950 short-story collection also written by Asimov. 
Mr Musk is known to be a fan of the science fiction author, describing his books as “really great” and adding some of the writer’s novels were “fundamental to the creation of SpaceX”, his rocket venture.