Live updates: Follow the latest on Trump's Gulf trip
Tesla Motors is bringing its Robotaxis and humanoid robots to Saudi Arabia, which will boost the kingdom's technology and economic landscapes, the electric vehicle maker's chief executive Elon Musk said.
Mr Musk did not give a timeline for the deployment of the futuristic cars − also known as the Cybercab − but said at the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh on Tuesday that it will be “very exciting to have autonomous vehicles here in the kingdom”.
His announcement came after Uber Technologies chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said autonomous vehicles will be operating in Saudi Arabia in 2025.
Mr Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, also said that Tesla Optimus robots will also be deployed in the kingdom to aid productivity, touting the economic potential of advanced robotics.
He predicted that robotics will unlock “an immense amount of economic potential”, predicting an “economy 10 times the size” of the current one.
“They can walk around, they can interact. I think we're headed to a radically different world; a good world, an interesting world. My prediction actually for humanoid robots is that, ultimately there will be tens of billions,” Mr Musk said.
The Telsa chief compared the robots to famous characters in the Star Wars franchise.
“I think everyone will want to have their personal robot. You can think of it like as though you had your own personal C-3PO or R2-D2, or even better,” he said.
Mr Musk also said that his satellite internet company Starlink has been approved for maritime and aviation use in the kingdom.
He also said that tunnels “might be worth considering” for Saudi Arabia, “in order to solve traffic”, and pitched his tunnel drilling business The Boring Company.
“You can essentially create a wormhole from one part of the city to another and alleviate traffic,” he said, claiming that Boring's proof of concept in Las Vegas “feels like teleporting”.
Mr Musk is part of a top-level delegation from the US led by President Donald Trump visiting the Gulf region this week in order to seek investment deals in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar.
The tour's first day on Tuesday has already yielded key agreements, including a series of deals between Saudi Arabia and the US, spanning economic partnerships and customs co-operation, to collaboration in mining, minerals, medical research, the arts and space.
Saudi Aramco, the world's leading oil-exporting company, said it will be investing $3.4 billion to expand its refinery in the US, chief executive Amin Nasser said.
US artificial intelligence chip leader Nvidia and the newly formed, Public Investment Fund-backed Humain, meanwhile, have teamed up for a “500 megawatt deployment” in the kingdom, boosting the country’s AI and data centre strategy.
