Starlink is helping many people in Ukraine, including a friend of mine who is on the ground helping to train the military. Gia Santos shared her story of how Starlink has helped her to stay connected.
She recently wrote an article in Vocal titled, Don’t forget how Starlink helped Ukraine since the beginning of the war. That article has been something she’s been working on as a way to share her story and the story of the Sons of Liberty International, (SOLI) a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has members in Ukraine helping to train the military.
In her article, Gia shares how Starlink is helping her, her fellow volunteers, and Ukrainians stay online. She writes, “A young Ukrainian volunteer shared with me recently… how Starlink is being used in towns and remote areas in Ukraine which help Ukrainians stay in touch.”
When she first told me she was going to Ukraine to help, I feared for her life and safety. However, I support her and know that she is following her heart. Starlink enables her to stay in contact with me and others. Since I’ve been writing about Starlink and interviewing users, I thought it would be great to include her story as well.
Gia told me,
“The nonprofit military organization which I’m doing volunteer work with here in Ukraine had the opportunity to utilize Starlink for a podcast interview with Judge Napolitano who spoke with the founder of SOLI, Matt Van Dyke about the Ukraine-Russia war.”
SOLI is providing free training-advising to the Ukrainian military and has been since March 2022. I asked her how it felt knowing that Starlink is helping to keep her connected online in a situation where without it, she’d be disconnected. Gia told me,
“I feel less anxious knowing that Starlink can keep me connected here to chat, and communicate with family, and friends back in the U.S. Simultaneously… it helps us do the work we need to do here while maintaining encrypted communication and supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia.”
“I have anxiety so I wanted to share that above because I felt anxious while traveling, and slightly anxious after arriving due to the obvious differences in language, culture, etc., until I got connected to the internet again, thanks Starlink! being connected is important for safety, work, and keeping connected to loved ones and friends back home,” Gia added.
Her article also emphasized the importance of not forgetting how Elon Musk helped Ukraine. Although his recent tweets were the equivalent of ripping a bandaid off an open wound, I think he was only trying to help. Elon has said plenty of times that he loves humanity.
His concern is for the loss of lives on both sides of the war. Many often forget about Elon’s love of humanity and his fear of us as a species going extinct. The light of consciousness is something he wants to preserve and this, I believe, is what motivates him.
He founded SpaceX to make humans a multi-planetary species. His other companies such as Tesla are focused on helping the earth with clean vehicles and renewable energy. His foundation has helped many people in need especially those impacted by climate change.
Yet his tweets were very hurtful to many in Ukraine and he was mistaken as someone who supports Russia. His message for peace would require a huge sacrifice from Ukraine, a nation that has given up a lot already.
I don’t blame Ukraine for not wanting to make those sacrifices. After all, it was Russia that started this senseless war. Yet if it continues, Elon is right. There will be massive losses of life on both sides.
There is no easy solution. People like my friend Gia are putting their lives on the line to help. And she wanted to emphasize that it’s because of Elon Musk, whose kind donations of Starlink are why she and her fellow volunteers as well as the Ukrainians they are helping are able to stay connected.
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The in-car Tesla Theater is among the most unique features available within the cars. When charging, parked, camping, or just hanging out, vehicle occupants can access a variety of streaming platforms on the large center screen, helping keep them entertained during downtime.
However, the Theater might be getting plenty more streaming platforms, something that owners have requested for some time.
Tesla owners recently discovered that visiting Apple TV in the vehicle browser can launch a fullscreen interface that looks and behaves like a dedicated application rather than an ordinary webpage:
Today I learned that if you go to Apple TV in the Tesla browser, it will open up an actual Apple TV app, fully functional. Not just the site.
Apparently there are more apps than just the few that show on the apps page. pic.twitter.com/os1Ypfm4JR
— Jason W (@jmwilt21) August 20, 2026
The experience drops the usual address bar and browser chrome, presenting catalogs, continue watching rows, and playback controls in the same window Tesla Theater already uses for its listed services. Independent testers soon found similar treatment for HBO Max, Paramount+, Peacock, Disney+, and Prime Video when those sites are opened from the car browser.
This shift is a plausible early signal that Tesla is widening Theater support without a formal software note. Theater has long been a set of web views rather than native applications, so recognizing extra domains and stripping the browser frame is a small server-side change that can expand the catalog quickly.
Owners still lack permanent Theater icons for the newly recognized services, and video remains limited to Park, yet the smoother launch is a meaningful step toward a broader lounge while charging.
Tesla Theater arrived with software version 10 in September 2019. The first video services were Netflix, YouTube, and Hulu, available only while parked and originally tied to WiFi. Spotify arrived in the same era as music rather than Theater video. Disney+ joined officially in July 2021 with the 2021.24 update, giving owners another major catalog on the center screen. Twitch and TikTok later appeared among the default Theater tiles, and Tesla Tutorials remained a persistent educational tile.
Not every addition stayed put. In December 2023, a Holiday software build removed the Disney+ tile for many United States owners after a public dispute involving advertising on X. Hulu stayed visible even though Disney owned it. Visiting disneyplus.com in the browser often restored the tile, which suggested the removal was a recognition list change rather than a complete block. Owners have also reported occasional blank Theater grids after updates, usually fixed by language toggles, resets, or later firmware.
Tesla axes Disney+ from vehicles with Musk-Iger rivalry, but there’s a workaround
Code archives from 2024 listed many unused source names, including Apple TV and Prime Video, that never became official icons, which now looks like groundwork for the current fullscreen browser behavior.
Now that this hint toward an expanded Theater experience has been recognized, Tesla could follow through with these additional shortcuts as a sign that more streaming platforms are available in Teslas than ever before.
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Tesla recently received its largest order for the all-electric Semi from Einride, a Swedish transport service, for 500 units, a groundbreaking invoice to receive before the first deliveries begin.
Even more remarkable, Einride CEO Roozbeh Charli said in a recent interview that he expects his company to take delivery of all 500 — the entire order — before the end of 2027. He even expects to have 75 Tesla Semi units in the Einride fleet before the end of this year.
🚨 Einride CEO Roozbeh Charli on the Tesla Semi partnership:
“If we start with the Amazon announcement that we did earlier this year, that was on the back of having gone through a proving period together with them and proving out our technology. Then we took that next step in… pic.twitter.com/oazkXjwoig
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 28, 2026
Charli said the Tesla partnership was part of a broader push, along with its earlier partnership with Amazon. Einride is assisting Amazon with the use of its Saga AI platform, which helps eliminate questions about budgeting and forecasting for logistics companies.
The Semi, as well as Tesla’s production and subsequent delivery of the units to Einride, will help the company “to have a good supply of vehicles that we can deploy on the [Saga AI] platform,” Charli said. “Tesla is also a relationship we’ve had for a while, and as the Tesla Semi deliveries are firming up, we decided to do a larger commitment to that and deploy that on our platform.”
In its initial announcement, Einride said it anticipated taking delivery of the trucks over the next two years, but now it appears the company is expecting all 500 units within the next 16 months.
Built at a dedicated factory in Sparks, Nevada, the Tesla Semi has been perhaps the biggest and most intensive testing process the company has ever had for a single vehicle model. For the past several years, Tesla has been working with many companies, most notably Frito-Lay and PepsiCo, to gain knowledge on the performance on regional routes.
Tesla plans to launch the Semi officially on September 24, five months after production started ramping.
Additionally, drivers have said they are happy about the Semi’s performance and that its numerous safety and productivity features have made their jobs and routes much easier.
Tesla Cybercab is using a unique strategy for picking up the correct rider, which is a crucial part of ride-hailing to ensure people end up in the right place and are charged the correct price.
Cybercab will utilize an RGB strip in its front light bar that will illuminate in a variety of different colors to mark itself.
This identifying mark will also appear in the Robotaxi app, giving riders in the same location a notable distinction in an effort to avoid any confusion regarding who should get in each vehicle.
🚨 Tesla is using different light bar colors to help riders understand which vehicle is theirs
Pretty cool strategy pic.twitter.com/eGMpEMeRpc
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 27, 2026
Other ride-hailing services use similar strategies: Lyft and Uber rides are recognizable through driver identity, vehicle type and color, as well as license plate. Waymo will display the rider’s initials on top of the vehicle, letting them know that the specific vehicle for them has arrived.
Tesla’s strategy is unique and interesting, but there are some flaws. Cybercab’s main purpose is aimed toward being an autonomous ride for all, including those who have disabilities like being blind or even color blind.
Tesla will likely have something in the pipeline for those who cannot see colors or have limited vision. There will definitely be multiple ways to identify which vehicle is the one that “you” specifically ordered.
Cybercab is set to start giving public rides next Thursday, September 3, in Austin, as it announced a dedicated event last week and invited many members of the Tesla community.
Additionally, members of the public will be invited as well. Tesla has been offering employee rides in Cybercab for nearly two months.
Tesla Theater might be getting plenty more streaming platforms
Tesla Semi’s biggest adoptee gives an update on production timeline
