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How Starlink & T-Mobile's partnership will impact 5G for the better for AI cameras How Starlink & T-Mobile's partnership will impact 5G for the better for AI cameras

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How Starlink & T-Mobile’s partnership will impact 5G for the better for AI cameras

Credit: Smarter AI

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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. 

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“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. 

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“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. 

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“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. 

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“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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Your feedback is important. If you have any comments, or concerns, or see a typo, you can email me at johnna@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter at @JohnnaCrider1.

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Tesla snags Lamborghini alum to help in newly entered market

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tesla showroom
Credit: Tesla

Tesla has snagged a Lamborghini alum to help with its entrance into a new market, which has proven to be an intricate situation for the automaker.

A report from Bloomberg states that Tesla has hired Sharad Agarwal, who was formerly employed by the Italian luxury carmaker, to run its operations in India. With Lamborghini, he was employed to handle operations in India.

Tesla launches in India with Model Y, showing pricing will be biggest challenge

Tesla has gone through quite a few different team members with its launch in India, starting with a few hirings a few years ago, well before the company actually committed to selling cars in the country.

The move helps Tesla streamline its executive decision-making process, as it previously had employees in India reach out to managers based in China, among other areas. Agarwal will be stationed in India and will handle the company’s operations.

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Tesla’s mentality behind the strategy is to have local leadership, something that seems to cater to the market specifically.

Tesla had previously put Isabel Fan, the manager of Southeast Asia for the company, in the position. However, Tesla seemed to want someone who was more permanent and would be dedicated to India exclusively.

India has the largest population on Earth and has a massive automotive market for that reason. Tesla stands to gain a lot from a strong performance in India, and its clean energy vehicles could help with pollution of all kinds in the region.

Tesla’s path to entrance in the Indian market was a long one, as the company tried for nearly ten years to get into the elusive region. Back in 2016, CEO Elon Musk said Tesla “would love to be in India,” teasing the Model 3.

By 2017, Tesla had met with officials from the country, but tried to get import duties down to nothing from 100 percent.

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Indian authorities denied Tesla’s request.

For years, Musk met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to try and iron out a deal of some sort. Nothing truly came to fruition, at least until last year, when real movement started.

By 2024, India had introduced a strategy to reduce import duties for some companies, which was enough for Tesla to make a move. It is now 2025, and the company still has not committed to building a factory in the region. However, it is not completely out of the question.

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Tesla Sentry Mode helps lock up drive-by shooting suspect in Seattle

“A nearby Tesla actually captured the video that showed a man crouched behind a vehicle firing gunshots. A lot of vehicles record, and officers know that Teslas, especially, record, so we use that video all the time in these instances.”

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tesla side repeater camera
(Credit: Tesla)

Police in Seattle, Washington, are crediting Tesla’s well-known Sentry Mode for helping find a suspect in a drive-by shooting case.

A 21-year-old was arrested for an alleged drive-by shooting in the Pioneer Square neighborhood of Seattle this past Sunday, and the leads on the case seemed to be slim.

However, a Tesla parked nearby was able to record the shooting, as well as the car that the suspect hopped in after the crime occurred. It helped police identify the person they were looking for.

Seattle Police Department Detective Brian Pritchard said to MyNorthwest that the Tesla was a critical part of finding the suspect and placing him under arrest:

“A nearby Tesla actually captured the video that showed a man crouched behind a vehicle firing gunshots. A lot of vehicles record, and officers know that Teslas, especially, record, so we use that video all the time in these instances.”

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The Tesla footage helped the Police put the suspect into handcuffs about an hour after the crime was committed. They are currently charged with drive-by shooting and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Tesla Sentry Mode is a security feature the vehicle utilizes to help solve crimes like vandalism, but it is also a cool feature that has caught things like accidents and other incidents on camera.

Many people still do not know about it, including the many vandals who keyed or broke the windows of Teslas earlier this year, as people damaged others’ cars in an act of retaliation against CEO Elon Musk when he became involved in politics.

This is far from the first time Sentry Mode has helped Police Departments solve crimes. Last September, we reported on Oakland’s Police Department in California using Teslas near crime scenes to help solve cases.

Tesla Sentry Mode is Oakland PD’s secret weapon against rising crime

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Sergeant Ben Therriault, president of the Richmond Police Officers Association, said, “We have all these mobile video devices floating around,” in reference to the Teslas that sit and capture nearly everything that surrounds them.

Sentry Mode has helped officers arrest a variety of suspects, including several people who were allegedly involved in the murder of a 27-year-old woman in Northern California.

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Elon Musk

UPDATE: Tesla investors push Charles Schwab for Musk comp plan clarification

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tesla cybertruck elon musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveils futuristic Cybertruck in Los Angeles, Nov. 21, 2019 (Photo: Teslarati)

Update: 4:00 p.m. EDT – Charles Schwab has reached out to TESLARATI with the following statement, clarifying that it plans to vote FOR Musk’s compensation package:

“Schwab Asset Management’s approach to voting on proxy matters is thorough and deliberate. We utilize a structured process that focuses on protecting and promoting shareholder value. We apply our own internal guidelines and do not rely on recommendations from Glass Lewis or ISS. In accordance with this process, Schwab Asset Management intends to vote in favor of the 2025 CEO performance award proposal. We firmly believe that supporting this proposal aligns both management and shareholder interests, ensuring the best outcome for all parties involved.”

There have also been updates to the headline and various paragraphs to reflect this as well as accuracy.

Tesla investors are pushing Charles Schwab for clarification after it was expected to vote against CEO Elon Musk’s pay package.

Several high-profile Tesla influencers are speaking out against Charles Schwab, saying its decision to vote against the plan that would retain Musk as CEO and give him potentially more voting power if he can achieve the tranches set by the company’s Board of Directors.

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The Tesla community appeared to see that Schwab is one firm that tends to vote against Musk’s compensation plans, as they also voted against the CEO’s 2018 pay package, which was passed by shareholders but then denied by a Delaware Chancery Court.

Schwab’s move was recognized by investors within the Tesla community and now they are speaking out about it:

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At least six of Charles Schwab’s ETFs were expected to vote against Tesla’s Board recommendation to support the compensation plan for Musk. The six ETFs represent around 7 million Tesla $TSLA shares.

Jason DeBolt, an all-in Tesla shareholder, summarized the firm’s decision really well:

As a custodian of ETF shares, your fiduciary duty is to vote in shareholders’ best interests. For a board that has delivered extraordinary returns, voting against their recommendations doesn’t align with retail investors, Tesla employees, or the leadership we invested to support. If Schwab’s proxy voting policies don’t reflect shareholder interests, my followers and I will move our collective tens of millions in $TSLA shares (or possibly hundreds of millions) to a broker that does, via account transfer as soon as this week.”

Tesla shareholders will vote on Musk’s pay package on Thursday at the Annual Shareholders Meeting in Austin, Texas.

It seems more likely than not that it will pass, but investors have made it clear they want a decisive victory, as it could clear the path for any issues with shareholder lawsuits in the future, as it did with Musk’s past pay package.

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