News
How Starlink & T-Mobile’s partnership will impact 5G for the better for AI cameras
Starlink and T-Mobile’s partnership will be revolutionary for cellular service and Smarter AI CEO Chris Piche had some thoughts on how the new partnership will impact 5G capability for the automotive industry.
Chris, who has created services including AT&T TV, BBM Video, Poly Video, and STUN/TURN/ICE shared his thoughts on the effect of 5G on vehicles and telecommunications in an interview with Teslarati.
AI Cameras, Tesla, Starlink & autonomous vehicles
Before founding Smarter AI, the Top 40 under 40 entrepreneur’s company created a technology that BlackBerry licensed to enable voice and video calling. This gave Chris a front-row seat to witness the speed at which technology can transform markets.
Smarter AI is a software platform for artificial intelligence cameras.
“Smarter AI is to cameras as Android and iOS are to phones,” he told me. The company’s first vertical market is focusing on transportation. Vehicle camera systems such as dash cams or other camera systems for larger vehicles are in this market.
“The connection here with Tesla, Starlink, and T-Mobile is all around autonomous transportation. Today’s autonomous transportation whether it’s in Tesla or another kind of vehicle all relies on line of sight situational awareness. In Tesla’s case, they rely on some cases exclusively and other cases primarily on cameras and computer vision to try to understand what’s happening around the car.”
“Many of their competitors use LiDAR and don’t rely on cameras. But in both cases, it’s all based on line of sight. What they can actually see in a straight line.”
Seeing beyond the line of sight
Chris told me that one of the new technologies that Smarter AI and other companies are developing is called vehicle to vehicle (V2V) or vehicle to everything else (V2X).
“These technologies enable cars to see beyond line of sight. Imagine you’re coming to an intersection and are planning to take a turn.”
Instead of waiting to see what’s ahead of you on the street, you’re turning on to, the technology will tell you exactly what is ahead. There could be a stopped car, a pedestrian about to jaywalk, or some type of temporary obstruction that you are unaware of.
“Imagine if there was a camera system located at the intersection. Imagine that as your vehicle is approaching that intersection, your vehicle could communicate with the camera and the camera could tell your vehicle that there’s some sort of obstacle.”
An autonomous vehicle would use this information to determine whether or not it can make that turn. This technology, Chris told me, relies on high-capacity and high-availability communications networks such as 5G.
Starlink & T-Mobile’s partnership could help with the challenges of implementing V2V and V2X
“One of the challenges with implementing technologies like V2V or V2X on top of 5G is that 5G deployments tend to be pretty good and getting better in large urban areas.”
5G is pretty spotty in Baton Rouge and personally, 4G LTE works faster than 5G does for me although there’s a tower across the street from me. Chris, who is in Las Vegas, said that the coverage is pretty good for his friend with AT&T. He doesn’t have AT&T and his coverage is pretty spotty like mine is.
“But this agreement with Starlink and T-Mobile has the promise or the potential to either eliminate or significantly reduce the spottiness in the 5G coverage and that will enable technologies that are designed on top of 5G such as V2V and V2X to work either more reliably in urban areas where 5G is already available but is a little bit spotty,” he said.
“It would also enable these technologies to work in other areas where there is no 5G. We think this is a really significant announcement in terms of the promise of autonomous transportation and bringing it much closer to being a reality.”
How V2V and V2X could improve Tesla’s Autopilot
Chris told me he’s been using Tesla’s Autopilot for around five years.
“It’s so good. It’s to the point that for the things it can see, it’s a way better driver than I am,” he said adding that when he drives for over a couple of minutes, he engages Autopilot. However, there are a couple of things that it lacks.
“It can’t see that far ahead and it lacks context. Sometimes, if there’s a car making a turn in front of my car, the Autopilot won’t understand the context that maybe this other car is momentarily in front of mine. And if I was driving, I’d keep driving. I wouldn’t take my foot off the accelerator or slam on the brakes unless I could see that something was going wrong with the turn that the other car was making.”
One way to improve Autopilot is through V2V or V2X, Chris explained.
“In V2V, my car would talk to the car that’s making the turn in front of me and they would orchestrate the speed and direction of both of the cars so that the car in front of me could make its turn and my car could continue driving without slamming on the brakes.”
“With V2X, that would enable my car to talk to the cameras, traffic lights, and intersections to gain situational awareness about either other cars that aren’t equipped with the same technology or about other objects such as bicycles, pedestrians, or other obstacles on the street.”
Note: Johnna is a Tesla shareholder and supports its mission.
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Cybertruck
Tesla Cybertruck’s head-scratching trim sold terribly, recall documents reveal
The head-scratching offering was only available for a few months, and evidently, it did not sell very well, which we all suspected. New recall documents on the vehicle from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) now reveal just how poorly it sold.
After Tesla decided to build a Rear-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck trim back in 2025, which was void of many features and only featured a small discount.
The head-scratching offering was only available for a few months, and evidently, it did not sell very well, which we all suspected. New recall documents on the vehicle from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) now reveal just how poorly it sold.
The recall deals with a potentially separating wheel stud and potentially impacts 173 Cybertruck units with the 18-inch steel wheels. The Cybertruck RWD was the only trim level to feature these, and the 173 potentially impacted units represent a portion of the population of pickups. Therefore, it’s not the entire number of RWD Cybertruck sold, but it could show how little interest it gathered.
The NHTSA document states:
“On affected vehicles, higher severity road perturbations and cornering may strain the stud hole in the wheel rotor, causing cracks to form. If cracking propagates with continued use and strain, the wheel stud could eventually separate from the wheel hub.”
Only 5 percent are expected to be impacted, meaning less than 10 units will have the issue if the NHTSA and Tesla estimates are correct. Nevertheless, the true story here is how terribly the RWD Cybertruck sold.
Tesla ended production and stopped offering the RWD Cybertruck to customers last September. For just $10,000 less than the All-Wheel-Drive trim, Tesla offered the RWD Cybertruck with just one motor, textile seats instead of leather, only 7 speakers instead of 15, no Rear Touchscreen, no Powered Tonneau Cover for the truck bed, and no 120v/240v outlets.
For just $10,000 more, at $79,990, owners could have received all of those premium features, as well as a more capable All-Wheel-Drive powertrain that featured Adaptive Air Suspension. The discount simply was not worth the sacrifices.
Orders were few and far between, and sources told us that when it was offered, sales were extremely tempered because customers could not see the value in this trim level.
Even Tesla’s most loyal supporters thought the offering was kind of a joke, and the $10,000 extra was simply worth it.
News
Tesla Semi sends clear message to Diesel rivals with latest move
The truck is being built at a dedicated facility in Sparks, Nevada, just next to its Gigafactory Nevada facility.
Tesla has officially launched Semi production at what will be a mind-boggling rate of approximately 50,000 units per year.
The truck is being built at a dedicated facility in Sparks, Nevada, just next to its Gigafactory Nevada facility.
The company finally announced on April 29 that the first Tesla Semi truck has rolled off its new high-volume production line at the factory. This marks the transition from limited pilot builds to scaled manufacturing for the Class 8 all-electric heavy-duty truck, nearly nine years after its dramatic 2017 unveiling.
🚨 Tesla Semi mass production is underway in Nevada!
HUGE! https://t.co/ohgQIiI2bK pic.twitter.com/23GvWr8D27
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) April 29, 2026
Tesla initially promised high-volume deliveries by 2019–2020, but battery supply constraints and prioritization for passenger vehicles delayed progress. The new 1.7-million-square-foot factory, purpose-built next to Gigafactory Nevada’s 4680 cell production lines, resolves those bottlenecks through deep vertical integration.
The Semi uses Tesla’s structural battery packs with cylindrical 4680 cells manufactured on-site. This integration enables efficient supply, reduced logistics costs, and the potential for high output. The factory is designed for an eventual annual capacity of approximately 50,000 trucks, positioning Tesla to address growing demand in long-haul freight electrification.
Tesla is using a redesigned Cybertruck battery cell to mitigate Semi challenges
Operating economics favor the Semi through dramatically lower fuel and maintenance costs compared to traditional diesel rigs, and companies involved in a pilot program for the Semi with Tesla have shown that.
Electricity is far cheaper than diesel on a per-mile basis, while the electric powertrain features fewer moving parts, reducing service intervals and lifetime expenses. Early deployments with customers like PepsiCo and others have validated these advantages in real-world service.
The Nevada factory’s ramp-up is targeted for full volume output before the end of June 2026, aligning with broader Tesla production goals for 2026. This includes parallel efforts on other new vehicles while expanding the Megacharger infrastructure to support widespread adoption.
By localizing battery and truck production, Tesla gains advantages in cost, quality control, and scalability that many competitors sourcing cells externally lack. The start of high-volume Semi production represents a pivotal step in Tesla’s strategy to electrify heavy transportation, potentially accelerating the shift toward zero-emission freight across North America and beyond.
As output increases, the Semi could reshape long-haul logistics with its combination of performance, efficiency, and sustainability.
News
Tesla gives HW3 owners another massive update
It was an “at last” moment for HW 3 owners, who have waited for an update on the capabilities of their vehicles for some time. After CEO Elon Musk finally admitted last week that the HW3 vehicles would not be capable of unsupervised FSD, it appears Tesla is bringing a new, more transparent tone to those owners.
Tesla is giving Hardware 3 vehicle owners another massive update, the second major communication the company has given to those drivers after what seemed like years of being left out to dry.
The company, which plans to launch a Full Self-Driving version 14 iteration that is compatible with these cars, which have older chips, is now planning to expand the rollout of the v14 Lite offering to other markets, it said on X.
Tesla said:
“Following future rollout of FSD V14 Lite for HW3 vehicles in the US, we plan on expanding V14 Lite to additional international markets. This update ensures that HW3 vehicle owners will continue to benefit from ongoing software updates. Since international rollout is subject to several factors (completion of technical verification, regional adaptation & relevant regulatory approvals), we can’t provide definitive dates at the moment, but will provide updates on a rolling basis.”
This announcement comes at a critical time for HW3 owners, many of whom purchased Full Self-Driving (FSD) capability years ago with promises of ongoing support and future-proofing.
Following future rollout of FSD V14 Lite for HW3 vehicles in the US, we plan on expanding V14 Lite to additional international markets.
This update ensures that HW3 vehicle owners will continue to benefit from ongoing software updates.
Since international rollout is subject to…
— Tesla (@Tesla) April 29, 2026
HW3, introduced in 2019, powers vehicles from roughly 2019 to early 2023 models. While newer AI4 hardware has advanced rapidly, HW3 owners have felt increasingly left behind, with their last major update stuck around version 12.6 since early 2025.
It was an “at last” moment for HW 3 owners, who have waited for an update on the capabilities of their vehicles for some time. After CEO Elon Musk finally admitted last week that the HW3 vehicles would not be capable of unsupervised FSD, it appears Tesla is bringing a new, more transparent tone to those owners.
V14 Lite represents a significant optimization effort. Tesla has confirmed it will bring many core features of the full V14 release, currently running on more powerful hardware, to the more constrained HW3 platform.
Expected capabilities include improved handling of complex urban scenarios, better reverse driving, enhanced parking features, and smoother overall autonomy, albeit in a “lite” form tailored to HW3’s compute limits. Tesla’s head of Autopilot, Ashok Elluswamy, noted during the Q1 2026 earnings call that the update is targeted for late June in the U.S.
Tesla is releasing a modified version of FSD v14 for Hardware 3 owners: here’s when
The international expansion is particularly meaningful for owners in Europe, Asia, Australia, and other regions where FSD rollout has lagged due to regulatory hurdles.
Tesla emphasized that timing remains fluid, dependent on “technical verification, regional adaptation & relevant regulatory approvals.” No firm dates were provided, but the company pledged rolling updates as milestones are achieved.
This move addresses growing concerns that Tesla might abandon legacy hardware. With the recent admission that its capabilities are limited and not capable of Tesla’s grand autonomy ambitions, owners are finally in the light of truth, with more honesty being put forth as the company navigates this chapter.
For Tesla, keeping HW3 relevant strengthens customer loyalty and protects the value of older vehicles. It also buys time as the company pushes toward broader regulatory approvals and unsupervised autonomy on newer platforms.
While V14 Lite isn’t the full unsupervised experience once promised, it delivers tangible improvements and signals that HW3 owners are not being forgotten.
As Tesla continues its rapid AI and autonomy evolution, this update underscores a key principle: software can breathe new life into existing hardware. For tens of thousands of HW3 drivers worldwide, V14 Lite could mark the beginning of a renewed era of confidence in their vehicles.
Tesla Cybertruck’s head-scratching trim sold terribly, recall documents reveal
Tesla Semi sends clear message to Diesel rivals with latest move
