Tesla may have accidentally gotten a first look at its newest Optimus Gen 3 humanoid robot when photos were found in the Tesla smartphone app.
Design files hidden in a recent Android version of the Tesla app appear to show the third-generation humanoid robot alongside the older Gen 2.5 prototype. The assets were pulled from the app package by Tesla community member @wholemars, who posted the renders on X Tuesday evening before deleting them. Tesla Newswire reshared the side-by-side comparison on Wednesday, and the images have been circulating widely ever since.
Comparison between Tesla Optimus Gen 2.5 and Gen 3 via @WholeMars on X
The files are labeled “gen3” and were created as templates for the Tesla app interface, as directly validated by Grok as official.
The comparison shows a robot that appears to be built for a factory line rather than a laboratory bench. Gen 2.5’s exposed mechanical links and gold plating on the knees and shins are gone. In their place, the Gen 3 uses matte black fairings on the lower legs, paired with a more contoured champagne gold body. Flexible covers now seal where your torso meets the tops of your thighs, keeping pads and moving parts sealed from debris and unnecessary contact.
The body panels fit more tightly, and the hands, which Tesla says have 22 degrees of freedom, feel much more refined than those of previous units.
This most recent leak fills a gap that Tesla has left open for much of the year. Elon Musk said on March 31 that Optimus 3 was around but needed “some finishing touches” before it could be shown, a delay that Teslarati covered when Tesla missed its first-quarter reveal target. Musk later said that Tesla would hold off on the project until it got closer to production, in part to prevent competitors from copying it. No reveal date has been announced.
The app itself has been preparing for Optimus for months. In July, code in the Tesla app indicated a dedicated button on the robot’s phone, a consent screen for collecting video and spatial data as Optimus works inside a home, and an alert system for low battery and mechanical failures. Finished 3D models of the third generation suggest that the interface owners will eventually use is moving the placeholder code to something Tesla plans to ship.
Production moves in parallel. This summer, Tesla destroyed the original Model S and Model In Giga Texas, the steel structure of a dedicated Optimus factory is nearing completion ahead of an expected 2027 start, with Musk targeting eventual production of 10 million units per year.
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