Tesla vs Uber: Saudi Arabia bets on the future of autonomous mobility

The sleek two-seater electric vehicle contains no steering wheels or pedals. It is Musk’s boldest step toward eliminating human drivers.’You can think of future cars as being robots on four wheels, and I think it would be very exciting to have autonomous vehicles here in the Kingdom if you’re amenable,” said Musk at the forum.

Tesla vs Uber:Uber moved in swiftly

Uber is also swiftly moving in with its ride-hailing platform, Careem, in collaboration with Chinese Pony.ai to launch a robotaxi by the end of 2025. It was announced on 6th May by Uber.Backed by a $100 million investment from Saudi Arabia’s futuristic NEOM project, Pony.ai aims to build autonomous driving infrastructure and R&D capabilities directly in the region.

Saudi Arabia’s Transport Authority on Tuesday, in a post on the platform, X said, ‘The #TGA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with @Uber to establish a framework for strategic cooperation to enable the operation of autonomous vehicles in the Kingdom. The first autonomous vehicles are expected to launch via the Uber app in 2025, with safety operators on board.’

Tesla’s vehicles will run on its in-house Full Self-Driving software and pure vision-based AI. Uber’s robotaxis will leverage Pony.ai’s suite of LIDAR, radar, and computer vision technologies. However, Careem is already a dominant app in the Middle East. It has an added advantage in integrating the autonomous fleet seamlessly into its existing platform.

Analysts say the competition reflects a broader strategic rivalry between tech giants and traditional mobility platforms over control of the future autonomous transport market.As the robotaxi race heats up, there is a shift in the economy of Desert Kingdom from oil-based to autonomous tech and AI.