Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, announced during the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum that Saudi Arabia has officially approved Starlink’s services for aviation and maritime sectors within the Kingdom.
Starlink, operated by Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX, aims to deliver high-speed satellite internet globally via a constellation of satellites, and this approval marks a key regional expansion.
“I think it would be very exciting to have autonomous vehicles here in the kingdom, indeed, if you’re amenable,”
Musk told the audience at the forum.
He also hinted at bringing Tesla’s robotaxis to Saudi Arabia in the future, and showcased several of Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robots to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Musk reiterated that self-driving vehicles and humanoid robots represent Tesla’s future profit drivers, although the Optimus project is still under development amid global competition.
The same event featured Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announcing the sale of over 18,000 advanced AI chips to Saudi company Humain, reinforcing growing U.S.-Saudi tech cooperation.
Trump, who led a high-profile tech delegation to Saudi Arabia, was warmly welcomed by the Kingdom and oversaw $600 billion in Saudi commitments to invest in the U.S., in addition to an arms deal reportedly worth $142 billion, according to the White House.
Kingdom Holding Company and Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s private office also hold a stake in Musk’s AI firm, xAI, which was recently merged into X (formerly Twitter).
