The director of the film I, Robot recently commented on Elon Musk’s presentation at the ‘We, Robot’ event.
On October 10, Musk held the event at Warner Bros. studio in California, where he introduced Tesla’s new self-driving Cybercab, Robovan, and Optimus humanoid robots.
The event’s announcements generated mixed reactions, but many social media users noticed similarities between Musk’s creations and the 2004 film I, Robot.
Featuring Will Smith, the movie is set in 2035 and presents a world where robots perform public service jobs and adhere to three laws to protect humans.
As Musk showcased the Cybercab, Robovan, and Optimus robots, many pointed out their resemblance to the robots and public transport depicted in the film.
“The Elon Musk Tesla self-driving Robotaxi, Optimus humanoid Robot and Tesla Robo electric bus looks exactly like a movie I have watched some time ago,” one Twitter user noted, sharing side-by-side images of Tesla’s products and scenes from the movie.
I, Robot’s director, Alex Proyas, seemed to share this sentiment, taking to Twitter to directly address Musk: “Hey Elon, Can I have my designs back please?,” he wrote, including another comparison of the designs.
Several social media users supported Proyas, with one Reddit user commenting, “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 echoed on Twitter, “The first thing I noticed about the Tesla event was the absolute lack of imagination to create anything that wasn’t directly out of a sci-fi movie. I didn’t realize how blatant the theft actually was.”
However, some defended Musk, with a Twitter user stating, “Imagine thinking you invented the wheel [because] you once drew a circle.”
At the ‘We, Robot’ event, Musk presented his Optimus robots, describing them as ‘your own personal R2-D2 [or] C-3PO.’
“What can it do? It can basically do anything you want,” Musk said. “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,” he added, noting that the robots are expected to cost between $20,000 and $30,000.