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Tesla Sentry Mode becomes more convenient with Ring’s new Car Connect feature

Ring's Tesla integration API. (Image: Ring)

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Ring, the security doorbell camera company known for its comedic and celebrity-driven commercials, has developed a device that has the potential to expand the capabilities of Tesla’s Sentry Mode. Using the software API for Ring’s new line of car products, Tesla owners will be able to install a device that taps into their Model S, 3, X, or Y’s cameras and gives them expanded security capabilities that can be used in real-time.

Currently, Tesla owners with Sentry Mode are alerted when a significant event is detected, such as a bump or break-in on the vehicle. The owner then receives an alert on their phone with the option to record and save the relevant video beginning from about 10 minutes prior to the alert being sent. It seems that with the new Ring device, Tesla owners will be able to check on their car immediately with a live view.

Interestingly, Ring’s car security software also has a feature that may integrate with the interior camera included on the Model 3 rearview mirror intended for future Robotaxis. When pulled over by police, a driver can use the phrase “Alexa, I’m being pulled over” to trigger the cameras to begin recording, save the interaction to the cloud, and notify loved ones of the event. However, specifics of the Tesla-Ring software were not provided in Ring’s announcement. Ring has also announced that its new product will be compatible with any car manufacturer. Tesla is simply the first automaker whose vehicles support the accessory.

https://twitter.com/ring/status/1309249838995787778?s=20

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Tesla’s Sentry Mode is designed to be quite sensitive, with the vehicles’ eight cameras recording events that transpire around the car. Tesla’s integrated vehicle cameras, primarily meant for Autopilot functionality, can be a huge boon to owners, and the feature has been credited with helping solve several headline-making crimes along with assisting with a few neighbor disputes. It looks to be a win-win for the two companies to join forces to enhance vehicle security rather than compete directly.

The relevant part of Ring’s product announcement can be read below:

Ring Car Connect

Newer cars are automatically integrating interior and exterior cameras into their design to bring customers peace of mind for things like back-up assist, blind spot notification and more. With Ring Car Connect, an API for car manufacturers, we’re bringing customers this information right to their Ring app, by offering a way to integrate cars with the Ring experience. Starting today, we will be working with car manufacturers to use this API, making it easy for customers to check in on what’s going on in and around their car from anywhere.

Ring Car Connect for Tesla

Building off the Ring Car Connect API, we created an aftermarket device specifically designed for Tesla models 3, X, S, and Y. With this, we’ve created a way to view Tesla Sentry Mode and recorded driving footage directly in the Ring App over WiFi or LTE.

Update:

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A previous iteration of this article suggested that Tesla was a partner in Ring’s development of Car Connect. The article has been updated to reflect Ring’s clarifications.

Accidental computer geek, fascinated by most history and the multiplanetary future on its way. Quite keen on the democratization of space. | It's pronounced day-sha, but I answer to almost any variation thereof.

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Tesla Semi gets its largest order yet

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Credit: Einride

Tesla got its largest order for the all-electric Class 8 Semi yet, a 500-unit order from Einride AB, a Swedish trucking company.

Einride made the announcement this morning following its second-quarter earnings call. The company said it plans to use 500 Tesla Semi units on its fleet intelligence platform, called Saga AI. The deployments will serve large companies like Amazon and will extend Einride’s electric freight network across logistics routes in California, New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, and Georgia.

The deployment is being carried out in several phases over the next two years as Tesla ramps production of the Semi at its dedicated production facility in Sparks, Nevada. Einride will receive its first Semi units in September.

Saga AI

Saga AI is Einride’s dedicated fleet intelligence platform. It enables scaled adoption of electric trucks for freight use and allows shippers to integrate electric capacity without the operational burden or capital risks of managing a fleet. This helps integrate cost-efficient logistics and makes budgeting and forecasting much more accurate.

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Tesla Semi’s Adoption

The Tesla Semi is now gathering large-scale clients past those who have helped the company operate a Pilot Program to gain initial information and feedback from real-world drivers.

Perhaps the biggest and most notable is that of Frito-Lay and PepsiCo., who have worked with Tesla for the past several years to dial in the finer details of the truck, including its efficiency and operation-related components.

Tesla Semi gets strange-but-understandable comparison from Jay Leno

There has been tremendous progress in that time, and it even catalyzed Tesla to make some design changes, which were unveiled earlier this year.

But Einride CEO Roozbeh Charli says his company’s partnership with Tesla will continue to push those things forward:

“This deployment is yet another proof point that we can execute at the scale our customers demand. Working closely with Tesla to bring next-generation Semis into active operations quickly and at scale is a testament to the strength of that partnership, and how quickly this technology is maturing from promise to daily operations.”

Tesla Semi is already winning over truck drivers

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Additionally, Dan Priestley, the Director of the Semi Program at Tesla, said the partnership is ideal due to Einride’s focus on sustainable transport:

“Einride is at the forefront of sustainable freight, and we are thrilled to deepen our relationship with them through this order of 500 Semis. EV heavy trucks provide lower costs per mile from fuel savings, reduced maintenance, and better uptime over diesel trucks. These savings increase further through operational efficiency when deploying EV trucks at scale, and we are excited that Einride recognizes this and look forward to supporting their deployments.” 

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India tells Elon Musk’s X to “Follow the Law” in latest censorship update

Elon Musk says X now exposes government censorship, but India’s secrecy laws complicate that promise.

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Elon Musk’s promise to make government censorship requests on X “clearly visible” is running into a wall in India, where the law forbids the very disclosure Musk is promising.

On August 15, Musk responded to an update from X’s open-source algorithm team by writing “Any censorship required by governments is now clearly visible.” The claim referred to a change X pushed two days earlier to its public xai-org/x-algorithm repository, which now includes a controversial filter written directly into the code. The filter suppresses posts from 665 accounts flagged by Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court from appearing in the For You feed of any viewer located in Brazil, unless the viewer already follows the account. The election tied to the filter is scheduled for October 4.

India’s government wasn’t as impressed, and responded on Monday that “X will have to follow the law of the land,” in response to Musk’s transparency push covered by the Times of India. The problem is structural rather than political. India issues content blocking orders under Section 69A of its IT Act, and Rule 16 of the accompanying 2009 Blocking Rules requires those orders to stay confidential. Publishing an India equivalent of the Brazil filter, naming specific accounts and citing specific government orders, would itself violate Indian law. Government use of Section 69A has grown from roughly 6,000 orders a year between 2018 and 2023 to about 24,300 in 2025, according to a Tech Times report.

Elon Musk shares details on X vs. Brazil conflict

The contrast puts Musk’s transparency pledge in an odd spot. It works largely as advertised in Brazil, where electoral law requires disclosure and X can point to specific account IDs and a specific court order in public code. It cannot work the same way in India, where the law requires the opposite. X users in India will keep seeing content disappear from search and their feeds without any public accounting of why, even as X tells the rest of the world that its censorship compliance is now inspectable.

This isn’t the first time X’s fights with a national government have shaped how the platform operates. Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered X to suspend the accounts of sitting lawmakers and journalists in 2024, a standoff that cost X its Brazilian revenue for months and froze Starlink’s local accounts before the investigation into Musk and X was closed in March with no evidence of wrongdoing found. X also sued California over a state law requiring moderation disclosures, arguing the mandate itself violated the First Amendment.

Whether India’s government pursues anything beyond a public statement remains to be seen. For now, the mismatch between what X can legally publish and what different governments legally allow it to publish is the real story behind Musk’s seven word claim.

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Tesla Cybercab launch preparations have begun

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Credit: TechOperator | X

Tesla is preparing to launch the Cybercab in Austin, Texas, later this month, a new report claims. Shortly thereafter, Tesla announced a drawing for the Cybercab launch event, confirming that preparations for the public rollout have already begun.

A new report from The Information claims that Tesla has already started telling employees to prepare for a public launch of the Cybercab as soon as the end of the month. The vehicle will launch publicly to riders in Austin initially.

The two-seater has no pedals or steering wheel, and will rely completely on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software to operate.

While the report went unconfirmed from Tesla, the company launched a lottery to ride in a Cybercab at an upcoming launch event, essentially confirming that preparations are underway:

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Cybercab entered production at Gigafactory Texas back in April, with initial units being test mules for the company as it has put the car in a variety of environments and climates. Tesla has sent Cybercab to many states, including Texas, California, Nevada, Massachusetts, Illinois, New York, Washington, Florida, Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.

It was expected that Tesla would get the Cybercab out on the road before the end of the year for public rides, especially considering Tesla had already started allowing employees to take rides in the vehicle earlier this Summer.

Tesla starts testing its Starlink-integrated Cybercab on public roads

This is a huge development, not only with the Cybercab program, but for Tesla’s self-driving program. Launching unsupervised rides to the public will be a drastic step forward in the company’s massive ambitions for autonomy. It is a long time coming, too. Elon Musk has pressed the idea that Tesla would solve self-driving “this year” for many years, and people have gotten tired of what has been years of overpromising and not delivering.

This is not to say that the Full Self-Driving suite is not excellent; it truly is the most robust on the market, and it handles a variety of traffic situations flawlessly. It definitely has its faults, but generally, it is fantastic.

Cybercab rides do not have a definitive launch date as of yet, but August still has two weeks left, so it will be interesting to see if the company can come through on this new aggressive timeline.

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