Top tech execs will help Saudi Arabia build its mega city of the future

Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, SoftBank (SFTBF) CEO Masayoshi Son, venture capitalist and Facebook (FB) board member Marc Andreessen and Y Combinator President Sam Altman, are among the tech heavyweights who have agreed to serve on the project's advisory board, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

Andreessen declined to comment. The others did not respond to CNN requests for comment

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the NEOM city a year ago, sitting alongside SoftBank's Son at an investment conference in Riyadh. Son described the $500 billion plan to build an automated city of self-driving cars and passenger drones from scratch as a "fantastic opportunity."

It's one of the centerpieces of bin Salman's Vision 2030, a blueprint for reshaping the kingdom's economy by increasing foreign investment, boosting tourism and selling a stake in its giant state oil company, Aramco.

But the Aramco IPO has been put on hold. And Saudi Arabia is facing growing international pressure over a crackdown on dissent. A recent wave of arrests has targeted clerics and human rights advocates.

Now, US intelligence is trying to determine whether the highest levels of the Saudi government were involved in the disappearance of Washington Post columnist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi.

People hold posters of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a protest outside the Saudi consulate on October 5, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Khashoggi was last seen more than a week ago entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Top Turkish security officials have concluded that the "highest levels of the royal court" in Saudi Arabia ordered his assassination, according to a senior official cited by The New York Times.

Saudi Arabia has strenuously denied any involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance.

"At this stage, our priority is to support the investigation, as opposed to responding to evolving comments not directly related to those efforts," a senior Saudi official told CNN on Wednesday.

The composition of the NEOM advisory board underscores the deep ties that already exist between the global tech industry and the kingdom.

Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal owns stakes in Apple (AAPL) and Twitter (TWTR) and recently acquired a 2.3% stake in Snapchat (SNAP).

Softbank and Saudi Arabia joined forces in 2016 to create the Softbank Vision Fund, raising $100 billion to spend on tech businesses. Its latest investments include $2.25 billion for GM's (GM) self driving unit.

Saudi Arabia has also pumped billions into Uber and last month agreed to invest $1 billion in Lucid, a potential rival to Tesla (TSLA), having previously bought nearly 5% of Elon Musk's electric carmaker.

SoftBank and Toyota want driverless cars to change the world

"Each of the Advisory Board members has been carefully chosen," the Saudi Press Agency said in a statement on Tuesday listing the members. Additional members may be appointed, it added.

Boston Dynamics CEO Marc Raibert, former U.S. energy secretary Ernest Moniz and former European Commission vice president Neelie Kroes have also agreed to serve on the advisory board, according to the SPA.

Sara O'Brien and Laurie Segall contributed to this article.

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