Humanoids, Robo Taxis, Starlink: Elon Musks’ AI plan for Saudi Arabia

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared a candid conversation with Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Alswaha during the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh. Musk is part of the delegation accompanying President Donald Trump, who is on his first bilateral overseas trip of his second term.

The two spoke on a wide range of topics, from how both nations have transformed, moving from an energy-based economy to one driven by innovation, technology, and artificial intelligence (AI). The minister asked Musk to speak more about the Optimus robots being developed by Tesla, to which he replied that humanoid robots are going to bring about a “productivity revolution,” which could take economies from “basic income” to “comprehensive high income.”

Throwing references on how AI can go rouge like in James Cameron’s Terminator, which we do not want’ [sic] to a positive guide Star Trek-like future, he emphasized that AI was going to drive innovation for the benefit of humanity.

While speaking on the innovation in infrastructure, Musk threw light on the autonomous vehicles being developed on roads, saying, “Think of future cars as being robots on four wheels.” He also spoke of the ‘boring’ company, one that is digging tunnels in Vegas to solve traffic issues, adding that “tunnels are underappreciated.”

Talking about the goal XAI aims to achieve, Musk said he wants to develop a maximum truth-seeking AI, one that truly ‘understands the universe’ and eventually ‘answers everyone’s questions’.

Musk closed the session with an optimistic outlook, while the minister thanked Musk for being a friend to the Kingdom and for bringing Starlink, XAI and Robo Taxis to Saudi Arabia.