Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) Eyes Robotaxi Expansion in Saudi Arabia Amid Robotics Push

We recently compiled a list of the 9 AI Stocks Poised to Gain from Trump’s Middle East AI Push. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) stands against the other AI stocks.

A White House Official said Tuesday that the United States does not need to block the global spread of its AI chips and technology to control national security risks, signaling a flexible approach toward sharing advanced technology to trusted allies such as Saudi Arabia.

When President Biden was in office, he tried to curb China’s progress in artificial intelligence by limiting access to powerful chips. However, President Trump is taking a different approach—one that encompasses offering US technology to countries on the condition that they avoid Chinese alternatives.

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David Sacks, the White House’s AI and crypto czar, signaled on the administration’s new stance only days after Washington announced plans to rescind and modify a previous regulation from the Biden era that would limit global access to artificial-intelligence chips.

“The Trump administration has just announced that we will be rescinding what’s known as the Biden diffusion rule… it literally restricted the diffusion or proliferation of American technology all over the world. (Diffusion) is not a risk with a friend like Saudi Arabia at all but I think in general there was a great deal of misunderstanding about the diversion of GPUs.”

-Sacks said at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum

These comments imply how the United States is now looking to deepen tech ties with Middle Eastern partners investing heavily in AI infrastructure and aiming to position themselves as a hub of emerging technology outside the United States.

Before these comments were made, Saudi Arabia and its neighbors saw their access to US chips limited under the AI diffusion rules imposed during the Biden era. However, Trump officials deem this as “misguided”, touting that there is no risk with “a friend like Saudi Arabia.” The Biden-era controls were rescinded by the Department of Commerce on Tuesday.

“The original reason for this diffusion rule is that we have a policy of not wanting our advanced semiconductors to go to what are known as countries of concern.”

-David Sacks.

For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds. The hedge fund data is as of Q4 2024.

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Jim Cramer on Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) – “Absolutely Start a Position! Tesla’s Not Just a Car Company – It’s a Tech Titan”

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 126

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is an automotive and clean energy company that leverages advanced artificial intelligence in its autonomous driving technology and robotics initiatives. On May 13, CEO Elon Musk made a big push for robotics in Saudi Arabia, including self-driving cars. While the company is yet to launch its robotaxi service to the public, it has announced its plans to launch a pilot of the service in Austin in June. Musk expressed his desire to bring robotaxis to Saudi Arabia as well, even though no specific timeline has been announced as yet. It must be noted that Uber is already laying the groundwork to launch autonomous vehicles later this year.

“Really 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.”

-Musk said to Abdullah Alswaha, Saudi’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology.

Overall TSLA ranks 6th on our list of the AI stocks poised to gain from Trump’s Middle East AI push. While we acknowledge the potential of TSLA as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than TSLA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.