Uber CEO tells Riyadh-based forum AV cars to be seen in Saudi Arabia this year
RIYADH: The CEO of Uber announced Tuesday that autonomous vehicles will soon be seen in Saudi Arabia.
'You will see autonomous vehicles in Saudi Arabia this year', CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told a panel at the Saudi-US Investment Forum on Tuesday. 'It's something that we are very focused on.'
He said the vehicles would provide a much safer environment both for the passengers and other road users.
'Autonomous holds incredible potential for us,' he added. 'First of all, it represents a safer street, as the autonomous driver isn't distracted, isn't going be texting while they're driving, etc.
And it's a driver that continues to learn from all the experience of all the miles driven all over all over the world.'
'Ultimately, autonomous will not only be safer, but will also be a cheaper form of transportation.'
'We are now working with 18 autonomous partners... to make sure that autonomous technology are introduced in a safe matter.'
He also discussed how the Kingdom represented one of Uber's top growing markets.
'First of all, the Kingdom represents one of our top growing markets,' he added.
He said there were 140,000 drivers who were now Saudi nationals on the platform, 4 million riders, and he said they operated in 20 cities across the Kingdom.
On the competition with other transport services he added: 'Uber and public transit really do complement each other. There's a perception that to some extent Uber competes with public transit, but actually our top competitor is personal car ownership and what we see in cities that have a strong public transit infrastructure, we see people using their cars less and Uber becomes a first mile and last mile solution to public transits.'
'So, for example, with the Riyadh Metro system… we offer discounted rides for first mile and last mile ... what we're trying to then build is a lifestyle that essentially complements public transit.'
This session on Saudi Arabia's GIGA projects, an in-depth conversation on the next chapter of national transformation, was moderated by Arab News Editor-in-Chief Faisal J. Abbas.
Saudi Arabia has committed itself to an abundance of giga projects as part of Vision 2030 in the Kingdom's ongoing modernization.
One such project is Diriyah, the birthplace of Saudi Arabia.
Jerry Inzerillo, CEO of Diriyah company, spoke on preserving the Kingdom's history, and the ancestral home of Al-Saud, the center of cultural heritage and diplomacy,
Celebrating that the project was running to schedule and on budget, he added: 'We just welcomed to the UNESCO World Heritage site this week our three millionth visitor. We have 45,000 workers on their job now. We are very honored and pleased to say that right now we're doing business with 83 American companies.'
Michael Dyke, CEO of the New Murabba Development Project, a vast cube-shaped building in Riyadh forming another part of the Vision 2030 project, said it would be one of the world's iconic buildings and landmarks.
Dyke said the New Murabba in Riyadh, which is home to the Mukaab structure, would span 2 million square meters of floor space.
'It is one of the greatest, largest structures ever known,' Dyke said.
Drawing a comparison in size to entertainment MSG Sphere in Las Vegas, that seats almost 18,000 people, Dyke said the Mukaab would be 22 times larger.
'So when people enter the Mukaab, they will enter another world, there will be holograms and there will be strong AI driving through the whole of the facility.'
'The Mukaab will come on line in 2030 onwards, when people come to Riyadh they will see something new, something different. It would be another fantastic place that will complement the amazing projects already happening in the Kingdom.'
Another massive project being created as part of the Kingdom's development is NEOM – a vast city on the Red Sea coast.
Rayan Fayez, Deputy CEO of NEOM, said the 26,500 square kilometer project would be the size of Massachusetts.
'Building a city and a region of this scale, requires significant infrastructure,' Fayez said.
'When we talk about some of the themes that we are spending our time and effort on, infrastructure is a big one. So whether its digital infrastructure, 500 kilometers of fiber has already been laid, a data center being built, power and utility infrastructure already have solar, and wind farms up. In addition to 194 kilometers of water pipeline, food infrastructure, greenhouse is being developed because NEOM is not just a real-estate development initiative, it's an economy building.'
'It's an 8.4 billion investment, a joint venture between Neom Aqua Power and Air products, which is, of course, a US company with a significant investment coming into Neom, developing what will become Green Hydrogen Project.'
John Pagano, CEO of Red Sea Global, in terms of investment opportunities he said they ere with numbers American companies and hospitality brands, including Marriot, Hayat and Hilton.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asharq Al-Awsat
3 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Shipping Company Maersk Temporarily Pauses Haifa Port Calls
Container shipping company Maersk said on Friday it had temporarily paused vessel calls at Israel's Haifa port amid regional tensions. The Danish company said it did not experience any further disruptions to its scheduled operations in the region. Israel has been hitting Iran from the air since last Friday in what it describes as an effort to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. Iran has denied plans to develop such weapons and has retaliated by launching counterstrikes on Israel. On Thursday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said it had launched combined missile and drone attacks at military and industrial sites linked to Israel's defense industry in Haifa and Tel Aviv.
Al Arabiya
15 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
As Musk's 'robotaxi' rollout approaches, Democratic lawmakers in Texas try to throw up a roadblock
A group of Democratic lawmakers in Texas is asking Elon Musk to delay the planned rollout of driverless robotaxis in the state this weekend to assure that the vehicles are safe. In a letter, seven state legislators asked Tesla to wait until September when a new law takes effect that will require several checks before autonomous vehicles can be deployed without a human in the driver's seat. Tesla is slated to begin testing a dozen of what it calls robotaxis for paying customers on Sunday in a limited area of Austin, Texas. 'We are formally requesting that Tesla delay autonomous robotaxi operations until the new law takes effect on September 1, 2025,' the letter from Wednesday, June 18, reads. 'We believe this is in the best interest of both public safety and building public trust in Tesla's operations.' It's not clear if the letter will have much impact. Republicans have been a dominant majority in the Texas Legislature for more than 20 years. State lawmakers and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott have generally embraced Musk and the jobs and investment he has brought to Texas from his SpaceX rocket program on the coast to his Tesla factory in Austin. The company, which is headquartered in Austin, did not respond immediately to a request for comment from The Associated Press. The law will require companies to secure approval from the state motor vehicles department to operate autonomous cars with passengers. That approval, in turn, would depend on sufficient proof that the cars won't pose a high risk to others if the self-driving system breaks down, among other reassurances. Companies would also have to file detailed plans for how first responders should handle the cars if there is a problem, such as an accident. The letter asked Tesla to assure the legislators it has met all the requirements of the law even if it decides to go ahead with the test run this weekend. The letter was earlier reported by Reuters. Musk has made the robotaxi program a priority at Tesla, and a failure would likely be highly damaging to the company's stock, which has already tumbled 20 percent this year. Musk's political views and his affiliation with the Trump administration have drastically reduced sales of Tesla, particularly in Europe, where Musk's endorsement of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party in February's election drew broad condemnation. Tesla shares bottomed out in March and have rebounded somewhat in recent months. Much of the rise reflects optimism that robotaxis will not only be deployed without a hitch but that the service will quickly expand to other cities and eventually dominate the self-driving cab business. Rival Waymo is already picking up passengers in Austin and several other cities and recently boasted of surpassing 10 million paid rides. In afternoon trading Friday, Tesla shares were largely unchanged at 320.
Al Arabiya
18 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
US sanctions target those providing Iran with defense machinery, Houthi oil trading
The Trump administration said on Friday it had issued fresh Iran-related sanctions targeting eight entities, one vessel and one person for their alleged role in providing sensitive machinery for Tehran's defense industry. 'The United States remains resolved to disrupt any effort by Iran to procure the sensitive, dual-use technology, components, and machinery that underpin the regime's ballistic missile, unmanned aerial vehicle, and asymmetric weapons programs,' US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. 'Treasury will continue to degrade Iran's ability to produce and proliferate these deadly weapons, which threaten regional stability and global security,' he added in a statement announcing the action. Two of the entities include shipping companies based in Hong Kong: Unico Shipping Co. Ltd and Athena Shipping Co. Ltd, the statement said. The Treasury Department on Friday also issued counterterrorism-related sanctions targeting Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis over alleged illicit oil trading and shipping, it said in a separate statement. Those sanctions target four individuals, 12 entities, and two vessels over imported oil and other illicit goods to support the Houthis, the department said.
