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Tesla Announces Upcoming Saudi Arabia Debut On April 10
The company is expanding its Gulf footprint despite recent sales declines in Europe and China.
Tesla is expanding operations further across the Middle East with an upcoming move into Saudi Arabia. The company shared the news of the April 10 Riyadh debut on its website, hinting at a showcase of its latest innovations but leaving out key details about when its vehicles and energy products will be available for purchase.
“Explore our global bestselling lineup and step into a world powered by solar energy, sustained by batteries, and driven by electric vehicles. Experience the future of autonomous driving with Cybercab, and meet Optimus, our humanoid robot, as we showcase what’s next in AI and robotics,” Tesla stated in its announcement.
The Saudi launch comes at a time when Tesla is grappling with declining EV sales in key markets. Data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) shows that Tesla’s European sales have dropped by 42.6% this year. In China, the company’s February sales of locally produced EVs fell by 49.2% year-over-year to 30,688 units — the lowest monthly figure since August 2022.
Beyond sales struggles, Tesla has also faced political backlash in the U.S. Protests erupted after CEO Elon Musk took on an advisory role in the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump and supported sweeping federal government budget cuts.
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Tesla’s presence in the Gulf region isn’t new: The company has operated in the UAE since 2017 and also has a dealership in Qatar. The Saudi launch follows another recent international push — Tesla signed a lease to open its first showroom in Mumbai as part of its strategy to enter the Indian market.
Saudi Arabia’s interest in Tesla aligns with the Kingdom’s broader push toward sustainability and economic diversification away from oil. The country aims to transition 30% of Riyadh’s vehicles to electric by 2030, contributing to a broader goal of reducing the capital’s emissions by 50%.
Saudi Arabia is also investing heavily in its own EV industry, with companies like CEER, Foxconn, and Lucid Motors playing key roles in its domestic manufacturing ambitions. The country’s sovereign wealth fund holds a majority stake in Lucid Group, positioning the startup as a potential Tesla rival in the years to come.
News
Nano Banana 2 Arrives In MENA For Google Gemini Users
Google brings its latest image model to Gemini and Search, adding 4K output and tighter text control for regional users.
Google has opened access to Nano Banana 2 across the Middle East and North Africa, pushing its newest image model into everyday tools rather than keeping it inside the exclusive (and expensive) Pro tier.
The rollout spans the Google Gemini desktop and mobile apps, and extends to Google Search through Lens and AI Mode. Developers can also test it in preview via AI Studio and the Gemini API.
Nano Banana 2 runs on Gemini Flash, Google’s fast inference layer. The focus is speed, but also control. Users can export visuals from 512px up to 4K, adjusting aspect ratios for everything from vertical social posts to widescreen displays.
The model maintains character likeness across up to five figures and preserves fidelity for as many as 14 objects within a single workflow. This enables visual continuity across scenes, iterations, or edits — supporting projects like short films, storyboards, and multi-scene narratives. Text rendering has also been improved, delivering legible typography in mockups and greeting cards, with built-in translation and localization directly within images.
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Under the hood, the system taps Gemini’s broader knowledge base and pulls in real-time information and imagery from web search to render specific subjects more accurately. Lighting and fine detail have been upgraded, without slowing output.
By embedding the model inside Gemini and Search, Google is normalizing advanced image generation for a mass audience. In MENA, where startups and marketing teams are leaning heavily on AI to scale content across languages and borders, that shift lands at a practical moment.
The move also folds creative tooling deeper into search itself, so that image generation is no longer a separate workflow. It now sits right next to the query box.
Nano Banana 2 Arrives In MENA For Google Gemini Users
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