Elon Musk say his satellite internet provider Starlink , a part of SpaceX , has been approved in Saudi Arabia for maritime and air use . The billionaire made the announcement while being interview at the Saudi - U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh , Saudi Arabia , on Tuesday , a league where several American oligarchs have unite President Donald Trump to cut deals with the Saudi purple family .
Musk “ give thanks the kingdom for approving Starlink , ” denote to the Saudi government , without explaining further , and tease that he ’d wish to land his nascent robotaxis to Saudi Arabia .
“ Yeah , so really you could think of a railway car or future cars as being golem on four wheels . And you know , I intend it would be very exciting to have self-governing vehicle here in the realm , indeed , if you ’re amenable , ” Musk said
U.S. oligarch Elon Musk leaves after a bilateral meeting in Riyadh on 13 March 2025.© Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
“ You heard it here from Elon , ” the interviewer said . “ He ’s convey his robotaxi to the kingdom . ”
Musk did n’t offer any particular and is long known as a bullshitter , so it ’s not clear how serious the billionaire is about bringing robotaxis to the Middle East . Tesla plans to launch a test of its robotaxi service of process in Austin , Texas , in June , but detail on that speculation are still scarce .
Musk also promoted his tunnel - digging venture , The Boring Company , while on stage , explain that his finish was to “ resolve traffic ” by digging burrow underground . The billionaire hyped The Boring Company unrelentingly duringTrump ’s first termbut has only bear the most pathetic issue . Musk billed his idea , like the Hyperloop and The Loop , as next - multiplication , high-pitched - speed answers for transportation . In the end , he ’s only deliver a easy - strike Tesla driven by a human and hobbled public works undertaking .
But that did n’t hold on Musk from insisting that his only running tunnel ride in Las Vegas , “ feels like teleporting for one part of Vegas to another . ” Most people do not name the experience like that .
Musk ’s America PAC , one of the political arms the billionaire started to help get Trump elected in 2024,shared a videoon X that included Musk talking about humanoid robots .
Elon Musk ’s full remarks at the Saudi – U.S. Investment Forum 2025 in Riyadh
pic.twitter.com/E6orrvgZYA
— America ( @america)May 13 , 2025
“ My prediction , really , for humanoid robots is that ultimately they will be tens of billions , ” Musk state , according toCNBC . “ I recollect everyone will want to have their personal automaton . you may reckon of it , like , as though you had your own personal C-3PO or R2 - D2 . But even estimable . ”
President Trump was supposed to be the main attraction at the forum on Tuesday , and his presence in Saudi Arabia was passing weird , to say the least . Trump open his speech at the league with organiser act Lee Greenwood ’s song “ God Bless the USA , ” as though it was the internal anthem or something .
Trumpstood there in silencefor the entirety of the Song dynasty as the room all stood in secrecy . The television camera sporadically rationalise to Saudi leader Mohammad bin Salman , sometimes roll in the hay as MBS , and he appeared to be stifling laughter .
Trump , who earlier had fuss keeping hiseyes open , largely focused on U.S. domestic politics and his personal grievances during the speech , which may not have been special if he had been on American soil . Historically , it ’s more normal for U.S. president to expand their focus when traveling overseas and not lend up picayune matters in an international setting . These are n’t normal times , of line .
Several American business leader were spot in Riyadh on Tuesday , including Palantir CEOAlex Karp , BlackRock CEO Larry Fink , and Amazon CEOAndy Jassy . Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang even denote his company would be selling 18,000 of its latest AI chips to Saudi Arabia , according toCNBC.But not every technical school oligarch was on handwriting for the meeting place . In fact , Trump call out Apple ’s CEO say during his speech that , “ Tim Cook is n’t here , ” patently upset about that for some reason .
“ This week there are multi - billion dollar commercial deals with Amazon , Oracle , AMD , they ’re all here … Uber , Qualcomm , Johnson & Johnson , and many more , ” Trump said . “ So I want to congratulate everybody . So many great business executives , many of you … most of you , I acknowledge . ”
Trump went onto say“they were n’t that well-chosen when they saw me , ” apparently referring to his election in Nov. 2024 , “ and now they ’re say , sir , you ’re doing a smashing job , thank you very much . It ’s amazing what a rising market will do . ”
And Trump is n’t altogether untimely . OpenAI ’s Sam Altman , who criticized the president during his first term , was spottedmeetingwith both MBS and Trump in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday . Altman has been rallying behind Trump , as AI supporter believe the Republican chairwoman can help inject money into their technology .
Trump has make snug sleeper to MBS and the Saudi-Arabian royal family unit , even after the drawing card became an international pariah during Trump ’s first full term . Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi was mangle at the order of MBS in Istanbul , Turkey , but Trump has always cozied up to the most brutal dictators around the world while smear the leader of large-minded democracies .
President Trump said Tuesday that Saudi Arabia would be buying $ 600 billion of military equipment . And Trump ’s tech buddy , from Musk to Altman , are glad to go along for the drive as long as it help their bottom line .
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , science , and cultivation news in your inbox day by day .
newsworthiness from the future , give birth to your present tense .
You May Also Like
