Elon Musk: Starlink approved by Saudi Arabia, hopes to introduce robotaxi in the future

Elon Musk announced that Starlink has been approved to provide maritime and aviation services in Saudi Arabia, while also expressing hopes to introduce Tesla's autonomous taxi, Robotaxi, to the country.

According to media reports, on Tuesday local time, Musk announced at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum that his satellite internet service provider Starlink has received approval from Saudi Arabia for maritime and aviation services. Musk "thanked the kingdom for approving Starlink" at the forum in Riyadh, and expressed hopes to introduce Tesla's autonomous taxi (Robotaxi) to Saudi Arabia in the future. Musk stated:

You can think of cars or future cars as robots with four wheels. I think having autonomous vehicles in the kingdom would be very exciting.

Additionally, media reports indicated that Musk revealed he had shown the Optimus humanoid robot being developed by Tesla to Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. For years, Tesla has told investors that autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots are key to its future profitability. As of Tuesday's close, Tesla's stock rose nearly 5%, maintaining a market value above one trillion dollars.

It is noteworthy that Musk attended not only as an entrepreneur but also as a key advisor to the Trump administration, responsible for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has significantly reduced U.S. government jobs, regulations, and funding.

This trip to Saudi Arabia comes as the White House seeks to reach trade agreements following the changing trade and tariff policies of the Trump administration. CCTV reported that on the 13th local time, the White House announced that the U.S. and Saudi Arabia signed a military sales agreement worth nearly $142 billion, the largest military sales agreement ever signed between the two countries.

Media reports indicated that the investment forum on Tuesday also gathered numerous American business leaders, including Palantir CEO Alex Karp, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. The media pointed out that as AI proponents believe Republican presidents can inject funding into their technologies, tech giants are beginning to support Trump.

Trump stated during his speech:

They weren't very happy to see me (elected), and now they say, sir, you are doing great, thank you very much. It's amazing to see what changes the rising market will bring