(Bloomberg) -- Elon Musk made a surprise virtual appearance at Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative in a move that indicated the billionaire has mended relations with the kingdom after the two sides fell out during his short-lived effort to take Tesla Inc. private.
A jury last year ultimately cleared Musk of claims that he defrauded investors when he tweeted that he was considering taking the company private and had “funding secured” to make the deal happen.
Musk testified that it was Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund that had wanted to take Tesla private when he made that post. A series of text messages that Musk exchanged with Public Investment Fund Governor Yasir Al Rumayyan during the saga came to light during the lawsuit, showing the tension between the two sides.
“I’m sorry, but we cannot work together,” Musk is reported to have said in one message at the time. “It’s up to you Elon,” Rumayyan responded.
The mood seems have to now shifted. Musk on Thursday spoke about the potential of — and threats from — artificial intelligence to a packed audience in Riyadh.
Rumayyan sat in the front row.
“AI is getting 10 times better per year,” Musk said. “I think it will be able to do anything that any human can do, possibly within the next year or two.”
--With assistance from Matthew Martin.
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