Tesla’s custom Optimus humanoid robots made their red carpet debut at The Walt Disney premiere of the upcoming movie Tron: ARES starring Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jeff Bridges and others.

The highly-anticipated third installment of the sci-fi Tron series rolled out the red carpet for its Los Angeles premiere at TCL Chinese Theatre, allowing Tesla’s robots to join forces with Hollywood talents. Billionaire boss Elon Musk was also thrilled to spread the word about his robotic push’ LA outing. However, the timing of the kung fu-fighting Optimus’ buzzworthy fame soaring online was quite ironic, considering a lawsuit against the EV maker went unnoticed.

Tesla’s Optimus Tron Ares premiere in Los Angeles – Elon Musk posts online

“Optimus at the Tron Premiere!” the richest person on the planet raved on his social media platform X, re-sharing Disney’s post catching a glimpse of the Tesla robot at the new Tron premiere. Meanwhile, the official X account dedicated to the “general purpose, bi-pedal humanoid capable of performing tasks that are unsafe, repetitive or boring,” tweeted, “Tried to start a fight at the Tron: Ares premiere.”

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The post caught the robot coming face-to-face with actor Jared Leto on the red carpet. While the controversial star took the back seat in the now-viral video clip that garnered millions of views merely within hours of its emergence on the platform, the prime focus remained on Optimus showing off numerous fighting stances.

In a blog post shared online, even the XBusiness account cheered on the “AI-powered digital adventures” at the red carpet premiere. “@xAI, @WaltDisneyCo, and @Tesla today announced interactive AI-driven experiences in-person and on X to celebrate the world premiere of TRON: ARES,” the post reads. “By integrating xAI’s advanced AI technology and X’s real-time platform with Disney’s iconic TRON universe, this partnership will immerse red carpet attendees and fans in the neon-lit digital realm of this groundbreaking franchise.”

Tesla lawsuit: Optimus robot attacked worker

While the high-trending social media coverage of the Tron: Ares premiere became the hot topic of the day, a major news flash about Tesla’s humanoid robot elsewhere slipped under the radar. Just hours before Elon Musk and Tesla unleashed their excited reactions about Optimus appearance at the LA world premiere, CBS8 reported that a new lawsuit had been filed against the billionaire’s tech giant.

Peter Hinterdobler, a veteran robotic mechanic at Tesla, alleged in a recently filed suit that the Optimus robot attacked him and knocked him unconscious during a late-night maintenance shift in February 2025. According to the complaint, the Tesla worker claimed that the robot got activated unexpectedly and then pinned him to the ground with an estimated 8,000 pounds of counterbalance weight.

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In the civil suit filed in Alameda County Superior Court, Hinterdobler accused Tesla of being negligent in developing, operating and maintaining the robot. He further claimed that while the robot had been designed to assist workers, it instead allegedly clamped its mechanical arm onto the employee’s left shoulder. With the man pushed against a table, his co-workers quickly came to his rescue and deactivated the machine.

According to the complaint, the Tesla worker suffered several injuries to his shoulder, neck and back, while also sustaining psychological trauma. In an effort to hold the company liable for negligence, Hinterdobler is now seeking damaged for medical bills, lost wages and suffering, in addition to punitive damages for what his attorney labelled as “willful and reckless disregard” for employee safety.