Musk Tout Starlink Approval in Saudi Arabia Amidst Trump’s Deal-Making Tour
Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, announced that his satellite internet venture, Starlink, has received approval for maritime and aviation use in Saudi Arabia. The announcement was made during an interview at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh, a gathering attracting prominent American business leaders alongside former President Donald Trump, all eager to forge new partnerships with the Saudi royal family.
Musk expressed gratitude to the Saudi government for the Starlink approval, stopping short of providing further details. He also hinted at his desire to introduce Tesla’s autonomous robotaxis to the kingdom, painting a picture of future cars as "robots on four wheels." He suggested it would be "very exciting to have autonomous vehicles here in the kingdom, indeed, if you’re amenable."
The interviewer seized on Musk’s statement, proclaiming, "You heard it here from Elon. He’s bringing his robotaxi to the kingdom." However, given Musk’s track record for making ambitious pronouncements that don’t always materialize, skepticism remains regarding the seriousness of this particular venture. Tesla is currently planning a robotaxi service trial in Austin, Texas, in June, but the details of this program remain sparse.
Furthermore, Musk took the opportunity to promote his infrastructure venture, The Boring Company, emphasizing its mission to "solve traffic" through the construction of underground tunnels. Despite extensive promotion of The Boring Company during Trump’s presidency, the results have been underwhelming. Initiatives like the Hyperloop and The Loop, once touted as revolutionary high-speed transportation solutions, have largely failed to deliver on their promises, resulting in little more than slow-moving Teslas driven by humans within limited tunnel systems.
Nonetheless, Musk maintained that the Las Vegas tunnel ride offered by The Boring Company "feels like teleporting for one part of Vegas to another," a sentiment not widely shared by those who have experienced it.
Meanwhile, Musk’s political action committee, "Musk’s America PAC," shared a video on social media platform X purportedly capturing Musk’s "full remarks." The video excerpt suggests that Musk had earlier discussed humanoid robots. He envisioned a future where "everyone will want to have their personal robot," comparing them to iconic characters from Star Wars such as C-3PO and R2-D2, only "even better." Musk projected the potential of "tens of billions" of humanoid robots in the future.
The Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum was centered on the presence of Donald Trump. Trump’s participation in the conference garnered significant attention, commencing with the playing of Lee Greenwood’s "God Bless the USA" upon his arrival, as if it were a national anthem. Trump stood in silence throughout the song as the audience also stood still. Cameras periodically focused on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, also known as MBS, who seemed to be suppressing laughter.
During his speech, Trump, who earlier appeared to be struggling to stay awake, primarily addressed U.S. domestic politics and personal grievances, a departure from the typical approach of U.S. presidents when engaging in international settings.
Several American business leaders were present in Riyadh, including Palantir CEO Alex Karp, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced that his company would supply Saudi Arabia with 18,000 of its latest AI chips. Not all tech executives attended. Trump singled out Apple CEO Tim Cook, expressing apparent displeasure that Cook was not present.
Trump highlighted numerous multi-billion-dollar commercial deals with companies such as Amazon, Oracle, AMD, Uber, Qualcomm, and Johnson & Johnson. He commended the attending executives and suggested that they were initially "not that happy" about his potential return to office, but that they were now praising his performance, attributing their newfound appreciation to a rising market.
Trump’s assessment may contain an element of truth. OpenAI’s Sam Altman, a previous critic of Trump, met with both MBS and Trump in Saudi Arabia. Altman’s support for Trump is reportedly driven by the belief that a Republican administration could foster investment in AI technologies.
Trump has historically maintained close ties with MBS and the Saudi royal family, even after MBS became an international figure of controversy. The murder of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, Turkey, allegedly ordered by MBS, did not deter Trump from aligning himself with the Saudi leader.
Trump declared that Saudi Arabia would purchase $600 billion worth of military equipment. Tech leaders like Musk and Altman appear content to participate in this landscape, likely as long as their financial interests are served.
