Saudi Arabia cancels its deal with Virgin Hyperloop One after the chairman of Richard Branson’s company, criticizing the kingdom over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Financial Times reports.

Earlier this week, Branson said he has been temporarily freezing his partnership with Saudi Arabia, which includes a planned investment in Branson’s space exploration business until more details are known about Khashoggi , who was reportedly killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Turkey earlier this month. The Saudis would have been considering investing $ 1 billion in Branson.

Virgin at the Hyperloop One and Saudi Arabia planned to sign an agreement for a feasibility study.

As a result, Virgo Hyperloop A CEO of Rob Lloyd and CTO Josh Giegel says they would not participate in the Future of the Investment Initiative (IFI), a huge conference colloquially known as “Davos in the Desert, “under the auspices of the Crown, Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the sovereign wealth kingdom on October 23 25. Other tech and financial executives also withdrew from the conference.

The plan was Virgin Hyperloop One and Saudi Arabia to sign an agreement for an in-depth analysis of the feasibility during a ceremony during FII, FT reports. The case would have focused on where and how to build the most futuristic transportation system in the country. The cancellation of the transaction is seen as the first retaliatory action by the kingdom in the wake of the West’s amortizing executives of the conference.

Virgo at Hyperloop One has tested his technology at a demonstration site in Nevada, but he still has to bid on construction contracts or break ground on an entire hyperloop project. Saudi Arabia has positioned itself as the nation’s most impatient to build the world’s first passenger-ready hyperloop. In April, Lloyd and other executives unveiled “Vision 2030” Hyperloop Pod, plus cementing a commitment between the Kingdom and VHO, to bring about the hyperloop of Saudi Arabia’s technology, “according to a press release .

Tuesday, a spokesman for Virgin Hyperloop said that the Financial Times was tainted with error of law and had to be changed. But Wednesday, the story was still in place, with only minor updates. Virgin to Hyperloop It is said that he has received “no confirmation from the government that our progress in the region has been put on the back burner,” and the possibility that an agreement could still be reached in the future.