"I'm going with an agenda," Macron told reporters as he visited the VivaTech summit in Paris, France's biggest tech fair, which Musk will visit on Friday.
"We're going to talk about artificial intelligence, in which he is involved, social media, regulation framework... And then I'll also talk to him about cars, batteries, to promote French and European attractiveness," Macron said. Asked specifically whether he was hoping to secure a Tesla gigafactory, Macron said: "It's up to the company to look at these different issues in Europe. So we'll be selling France" as an investment destination.
France has been catching up with other European nations in its goal to become a hub for the electric vehicle industry, thanks to generous subsidies and a more business-friendly environment and aggressive lobbying since Macron took power. Its northern region has attracted four gigafactory projects, the first one inaugurated last month by a consortium including Peugeot-owner Stellantis