Elon Musk proposes to Saudi Arabia autonomous vehicles, Starlink expansion, Boring Company tunnels
Tech billionaire spoke at Saudi-US Investment Forum 2025 in Riyadh
ISTANBUL
US President Donald Trump’s adviser and tech billionaire Elon Musk proposed a sweeping technological vision for Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, suggesting the Kingdom adopt autonomous vehicles, expand Starlink services for maritime and aviation use, and implement tunnel networks through the Boring Company to ease urban congestion.
“It would be very exciting to have autonomous vehicles here in the kingdom,” Musk told a panel at the Saudi-US Investment Forum 2025 in Riyadh, where he joined Trump as part of their visit to Saudi Arabia.
His remarks came before speeches by Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Musk expressed gratitude to Saudi Arabia for approving the use of Starlink for maritime and aviation use.
The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX revealed that several Tesla Optimus humanoid robots were presented during the event.
“We just showed several of our Tesla Optimus robots to His Highness (Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) and President Trump, and I think they were very impressed,” he noted.
Musk also highlighted the mission of his company xAI. “The goal with xAI is to have a maximally truth-seeking AI, and it's important to be maximally truth-seeking in order to understand the universe … and help people answer any questions along the way, of course.”
Musk floated a futuristic solution to urban congestion. “I just wanted to mention also something that may be worth considering is tunnels, the Boring Company … to solve traffic, you really need to go 3D with roads,” said Musk.
Trump and bin Salman signed a strategic economic partnership document Tuesday between the two countries.
The White House said the US and Saudi Arabia have signed the "largest defense sales agreement in history" worth nearly $142 billion, providing Saudi Arabia with state-of-the-art warfighting equipment and services from over a dozen US defense firms.”
Trump arrived in Riyadh early Tuesday, marking his first overseas trip since he took office for a second time in January. His itinerary includes visits to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
