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Tesla is taking its electric cars into the heart of the oil-producing world.
The automaker announced Monday that its first official venture in the Middle East will be in the United Arab Emirates.
The first cars, the Model S and Model X, will hit the road this summer.
“The timing seems good to make a significant debut in this region starting in Dubai.” tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk said at the World Government Summit in Dubai.
Tesla owners will have access to two existing supercharging stations in the United Arab Emirates, and Telsa plans to open five more by the end of the year.
Despite boasting huge oil and gas reserves, the United Arab Emirates has ambitious plans to go green. Last month it said it will invest $163 billion to boost alternative energy use over the next three decades.
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It’s the latest in a series of Tesla expansion announcements. Last week, Musk hinted that Tesla might be coming to India soon.
Musk has also scoffed at plans to build “heavy trucks and high-passenger-density urban transportation” as well as to develop a transportation network, which could be similar to Uber.
Speaking in Dubai, the businessman expounded on the future of robotics.
“We will see tremendous progress in autonomy and artificial intelligence,” Musk said. “Probably in 10 years, it will be very rare to build cars that are not fully autonomous.”
Related: Elon Musk’s Surprising Secret Weapon: Trump?
But he also warned about the “disruptive” nature of autonomous vehicles.
“That disruption I’m talking about will take place over about 20 years. Still, 20 years is a short period of time for 12-15% of the workforce to be unemployed.”
Musk said governments need to pay close attention to artificial intelligence, create sustainable transportation and watch out for mass unemployment.
“This is going to be a massive social challenge. Ultimately, we need to think about universal basic income. I don’t think we have a choice,” she said. “There will be fewer and fewer jobs that a robot can’t do better.”
— Seth Fiegerman contributed reporting.
CNNMoney (Dubai) First posted on February 13, 2017: 11:06 am ET
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