Elon Musk Announces Starlink Expansion to Saudi Arabia, Promotes Tesla Robotaxis During Trump's Middle East Tour

Starlink Expands to Saudi Arabia

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, announced that Starlink, his satellite internet provider, has received approval for maritime and aviation use in Saudi Arabia. The announcement came during the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh, where Musk joined President Donald Trump and other tech leaders 1

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. Starlink, which already operates the world's largest satellite constellation with over 7,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit, is now available in more than 125 countries 2

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Tesla Robotaxis and AI Ventures

During the forum, Musk also promoted several of his other ventures, including Tesla's autonomous robotaxis. He expressed interest in bringing these vehicles, which he described as "robots on four wheels," to Saudi Arabia 1

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. Musk highlighted the potential of humanoid robots, predicting their widespread adoption and suggesting they could dramatically expand the global economy by increasing productivity 2

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Tech Leaders Join Trump in Middle East

The Saudi-US Investment Forum saw the attendance of several prominent American business leaders, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang 1

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. President Trump, who was the main attraction at the forum, focused largely on U.S. domestic politics and personal grievances during his speech 1

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Multi-Billion Dollar Deals

Trump bragged about multi-billion dollar commercial deals between Saudi Arabia and Big Tech companies. Nvidia announced the sale of 18,000 of its latest AI chips to Saudi Arabia 1

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. Trump also claimed that Saudi Arabia would be buying $600 billion worth of military equipment 1

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Musk's Other Ventures

In addition to Starlink and Tesla, Musk promoted his tunneling venture, The Boring Company, and his AI startup, xAI 2

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. He reiterated his goal of "solving traffic" through underground tunnels, despite previous projects receiving mixed reviews 1

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Political Connections and Controversies

The event highlighted the close ties between Trump, tech leaders, and Saudi Arabia, despite past controversies. Trump's relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has remained strong, even after the murder of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi 1

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Future of AI and Robotics

Musk shared his vision for the future, predicting the deployment of "tens of billions" of humanoid robots and suggesting that everyone might want their own personal robot, comparable to "C-3PO or R2-D2, but even better" 1

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. He emphasized the potential for these technologies to create a world of "universal high income" with widely accessible goods and services 2

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