The inventor of the Cyberbackpack is extending an Elon Musk-esque offer to Tesla employees, offering a discount at a familiar value to any company worker who wishes to buy a backpack based on the Tesla Cybertruck design.
The Cyberbackpack was invented by Riz, a Tesla owner and early adopter of electric vehicles. Riz was inspired to build a backpack for the ultimate Cybertruck fan, featuring USB-C charging ports, expanding storage capacity, and a carbon-fiber compartment for maximum protection of your goods. Just as the Tesla Cybertruck sports a war-ready design, the Cyberbackpack also provides complete protection for books, laptops, and other tech items.
Riz and CyberBrands are now offering any Tesla employee interested in snagging the Cyberbackpack, which usually retails at $249, a…you guessed it…69 percent discount. All you have to do is fill out the Typeform on the product website.
Riz said the idea came from Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s recent decision to buy Twitter, as employees will have more money to spend on Tesla products to support the company if they want the backpack.
“We are doing what we can to help Elon buy Twitter. More money in Tesla employees’ pockets means more money for them to spend on Tesla products,” Riz said.
The Cyberbackpack is a product that has a rich story. After Riz proposed the idea of working on the backpack with Tesla, he became alarmed when the automaker filed a trademark claim for the product’s name.
Elon Musk’s talk at Tesla Giga Texas Cyber Rodeo: updates and details
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“My goal is to work with Tesla in some fashion to distribute the product. That’s why I reached out initially. However, if that does not happen, then I would like to continue marketing and selling on my site,” Riz told us in an interview back in April. He actually started developing the product after the Sandy Hook tragedy as a way to protect children at school.
The debacle with Tesla, which was really done to protect the likeness of the Cybertruck as most people would associate it with Tesla, a patent attorney explained to us, Riz decided to build a new company: CyberBrands. This has resulted in several new products based on the Cyberbackpack, including a power bank and a sling bag (which are unfortunately not a part of the Tesla employee promo).
My favorite Cyberbackpack uses
I personally use a Cyberbackpack daily, as I use it for a gym backpack every day. Additionally, it came in handy with a USB power bank over the Summer on the beaches of Assateague Island. After the Bluetooth Bose Speaker or my iPhone was low on a charge, the Cyberbackpack’s awesome versatility as a portable charger comes in handy. Of course, there are days my headphones aren’t charged for the gym, and the Cyberbackpack takes care of that as well.
It’s a great backpack and has a lot of space and storage. I packed an entire weekend of clothing, plus my MacBook, iPad, and chargers in the bag, and still had room leftover. For the price after the 69 percent discount that Riz is offering to Tesla employees, it’s really a bargain.
Just got my Cyberbackpack in the mail! @Riz has a great product here and I cannot wait to put it to use this summer!! pic.twitter.com/CimqDA758B
— Joey Klender (@KlenderJoey) May 31, 2022
Non-Tesla employees, you can buy the Cyberbackpack here.
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Disclosure and Promotional Rules: 1. The discount amount will be 69% off the listed price. 2. The discount cannot be combined with other discounts. 3. The discount only applies to backpacks with power banks. 4. The discount can only be used one (1) time and by the email address provided. 5. Discount code will expire in 24 hours, after which you will have to request a new code.
I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.
Elon Musk
Tesla AI boss reveals how big Optimus is going to get
Tesla’s Optimus chief corrected himself on X, confirming a staggering 10 million robot production target.
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner.jpg)
Tesla’s Optimus program has a new number attached to it, after Ashok Elluswamy, the executive who has run the humanoid robot program since June 2025, posted a three word correction on X Thursday, “Correction, 10 million robots.”
The line clarifies the long term annual capacity Tesla is building toward its planned second Optimus production line at Gigafactory Texas, a figure Musk has cited repeatedly since last year’s shareholder meeting.
The scale is worth noting, because ten million robots a year would mean Tesla building more units annually than most countries sell in new cars. Tesla has framed this as a second line, not the first. The buildout is happening in two phases: a roughly one million unit per year line inside Tesla’s Fremont factory, installed on the floor space vacated when Model S and Model X production ended earlier this year, and a much larger dedicated facility under construction at Giga Texas that broke ground on its first steel structure in May. That Texas facility is the one Elluswamy’s correction refers to, and is expected to reach volume production sometime in 2027.
Correction, 10 million robots https://t.co/0z4nyQNTzp
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) July 30, 2026
Tesla Optimus project fires up as Musk sees production line progress
Elluswamy took over Optimus from Milan Kovac last summer and has spent the months since talking up the program’s trajectory. Elon Musk has also floated the ten million figure at Tesla’s 2025 shareholder meeting.
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Ending Model S and Model X production to make room for the first Optimus line was one of the more consequential manufacturing decisions in the company’s recent history, retiring two flagship vehicles in favor of a robot that has yet to enter mass production. Musk has previously estimated per unit production costs at $20,000 to $25,000 once Tesla reaches a million units a year, though he hasn’t said what that cost looks like at ten times the volume.
The Trump Administration today made several key moves to help with the deployment of autonomous vehicles by cutting overreaching red tape that has stifled growth and innovation for years.
The moves, which were put forth by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), aim to grant temporary exemptions to at least one company currently, although that could expand in the coming months. Additionally, it will work with organizations to develop standards and a sound but efficient regulatory landscape.
Zoox is the only company mentioned explicitly by the Trump Administration in its press release announcing the new terms today. They will receive a temporary two-year exemption that will allow the commercial deployment of up to 2,500 vehicles annually for two years.
There is a potential exemption for Robomart, Inc., which “requests a temporary exemption from certain FMVSS No. 500 requirements for a low-speed vehicle operated by an ADS without a human driver onboard. NHTSA will publish a separate notice seeking public comment on its merits once the initial evaluation is complete,” the agency said.
Here are the five new terms that Secretary Sean Duffy has implemented through the NHTSA today:
- Allow Zoox to commercially deploy its robotaxis through a temporary exemption.
This temporary exemption will allow the commercial deployment of up to 2,500 vehicles annually for two years, subject to an enhanced, adaptable oversight structure that can evolve as Zoox’s technology advances. - Accelerate development of first-ever AV performance standards through a partnership with SAE Industry Technologies Consortia (ITC).
This partnership will fund a three-year, $5 million “A2SCEND” consortium, bringing together experts to gather data and accelerate creation of the first-ever AV performance standards. This project will inform a single national standard for AV safety to eliminate the patchwork regulatory landscape that has stifled innovation for years. - Publish an interim final rule that allows vehicles manufactured prior to an exemption to be eligible for a commercial deployment exemption.
This rule will modernize the application process and improve access to exemptions for innovators, including AV developers, by granting the NHTSA Administrator the discretion to apply temporary exemptions to vehicles manufactured prior to the effective date of an exemption grant. - Streamline the application process for Part 555 exemptions by updating guidance and soliciting feedback from the public.
By updating the Part 555 exemption process—which allows automakers to temporarily sell a limited number of non-compliant vehicles, primarily to test new technologies—NHTSA is aiming to create a more flexible oversight structure for exemptions and summarize recent AV framework activities, including expanded exemption pathways, streamlined crash reporting, and ongoing efforts to modernize Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). - Establish a new Federal Docket for public feedback on NHTSA’s updated safe AV development and deployment guidance.
NHTSA is updating its technical guidance for AVs for the first time since 2017—focusing on key safety areas like emergency responder interactions, safety management systems, remote assistance, and post-crash behavior to help the industry scale up driverless deployments safely.
Additionally, the NHTSA said it has modernized some safety standards by proposing updates to:
- FMVSS 102 – Transmission shifting
- FMVSS 103/104 – Windshield defrosting and wiping
- FMVSS 110 – Tire placards
- FMVSS 135 – Braking systems
- FMVSS 101 – Controls and displays
- FMVSS 108 – Vehicle lighting
- FMVSS 111 – Mirrors and rearview display
- FMVSS 126 – Electronic stability control systems
- FMVSS 201/208 – Sun visors and warning labels
These changes aim to make the regulatory process for autonomous vehicles more streamlined and efficient, which could help the U.S. gain dominance over autonomous vehicle systems moving forward.
Elon Musk is, in many respects, one of the biggest and most influential figures in modern-day artificial intelligence.
Given that Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI are all looked at in their respective fields as leaders to an extent, each of them has a heavy influence on the future of AI, even though two of them are not thought of, at face value, as AI companies.
Musk has grand expectations for what is to come with AI, not only as a form of assistance to make human lives easier, but to make humans multiplanetary and solve some of the biggest issues that face us today. But even he is astounded by AI’s pace of progress.
He believes that in two years, AI will be so mind-blowing it might be unrecognizable.
Given that AI from 2 years ago feels so old that it should be in a museum, then obviously AI 2 years from now will be mind-blowing https://t.co/TcsKZ8o8OE
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 30, 2026
This progress can be seen in a variety of ways, but perhaps the most popular way people have shown AI’s progress, especially on social media, is through an incredibly arbitrary way of watching Will Smith eat spaghetti:
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The progression in AI of Will Smith eating spaghetti (2023 – 2026) pic.twitter.com/VDv82mB5gs
— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) February 10, 2026
This is a great way to show people how AI is improving, especially from a perspective that examines how it can manufacture images and video from prompts. AI is an incredibly complex concept, however, and it goes much deeper than Will Smith eating Italian food.
Musk’s most widely adopted method of AI is likely Tesla Full Self-Driving, which impacts millions of people as they utilize it to increase safety with their travel. Musk has routinely pushed incredibly aggressive timelines for self-driving, especially unsupervised.
Perhaps this perspective is why he feels that things will be solved in a timeframe that is much more aggressive than most of us would think. Regardless, the progress of AI is moving fast, and it seems that Musk’s expectations for it could be high.
But if it can actually achieve full-length motion pictures and even more realistic production value, it will be hard to distinguish between reality and AI very soon.
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![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner-80x80.jpg)
Tesla AI boss reveals how big Optimus is going to get
Autonomous vehicle red tape gets slashed by Trump Administration
