During the eight-minute interview, Elon Musk touted his numerous businesses and told the crowd that his Tesla Optimus robot performed dances for Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. He also announced that his satellite internet company Starlink has reached an agreement for use in Saudi Arabia for both maritime and aviation use. Hopefully, in the near future, he expressed his hope to bring Tesla's self-driving robots to the country.
Saudi Arabian Minister of Communication Abdullah Alswaha told Musk, “We cannot be more grateful for having a lifelong partner and friends like you Elon, Elon, Elon, Elon, like you, Elon, like you.”
Although Musk has moved away from his de facto leader as the so-called “Ministry of Government Efficiency” and moved out of the White House, the Saudi summit showed that he is still keeping his distance from the U.S. president and international influence. When Musk returns to his business with his main focus, he still has the ability to get rewards of connection and political influence from Trump.
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Musk's star-stripe announcement comes after a series of countries agreed to allow satellite communications services to operate within their borders. Some countries that have mentioned the company by name by the U.S. State Department officials may push for increased satellite services to negotiate amid a large number of tariffs on Trump, according to an internal memo obtained by the Washington Post.
Concerns over whether Musk and the Trump administration have used their power to force countries to adopt interstellar links have prompted calls for a general investigation by the State Department ombudsman to see if there is inappropriate influence in these agreements. A group of Democratic senators sent a letter Wednesday asking for a broad review of the State Department's alleged efforts to assist Starlink.
"These reports suggest that Mr. Musk may be using his official role and that his proximity to the president is for his own personal financial benefit, even if it comes at the expense of American consumers and American foreign policy interests," the senator wrote.
The Saudi-US Investment Forum Summit was held in Riyadh and senior ministers from the Kingdom Government and US Cabinet Secretary Scott Besent and Howard Lutnik. Saudi Arabia has expanded its portfolio in recent years, and in addition to its extensive deals in industries such as defense and energy, it has gradually entered technology and artificial intelligence. After the event, the White House and the Saudi government announced a $14.2 billion arms deal.
Musk is one of the long list of Silicon Valley big names and senior executives from major U.S. companies attend the summit. Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir and Musk Ally, CEO of Openai and Musk rival Sam Altman also participated. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang are some other technology leaders. The list also includes CEOs from a range of bold names like Boeing, Coca-Cola and Halliburton.
Earlier on Tuesday, Musk spoke with Trump and Prince Mohammed at the Saudi Crown Court and greeted both leaders enthusiastically. Musk's arrival in Riyadh a few weeks ago, his Twitter/X social media platform managed to finance billions of dollars in debt with the help of the Saudi Foundation. Tesla also launched in Saudi Arabia last month, opening a new showroom in the capital.