Elon Musk Heads to Europe to Meet Macron, Meloni

(Photo : MICHEL EULER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Macron attempts to convince Musk of a French Tesla factory, while Meloni would talk with Musk about AI, among other things.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would meet with Tesla CEO Elon Musk Friday to promote his country as a possible site for a future European factory. The meeting would be the second time both men would meet after a similar meet-up last month.

France has been courting Tesla and Chinese EV giant BYD to build factories in the country. But according to Reuters, it would be a cross-Pyrenees competition as Spain also convinced Tesla to do so.

"I'm going (into that meeting) with an agenda," Macron told reporters at the VivaTech summit in Paris. "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 and batteries to promote French and European attractiveness."

Musk will also visit the VivaTech Summit on Friday.

Musk to Meet Meloni in Rome

Aside from France, Musk was also in Rome to meet with Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni late Thursday. According to the Italian government, the conversation would center around the low birth rate in Italy, the issue of deregulation in the European Union, and the risks related to the use of AI.

Musk earlier met with former Italian minister Antonio Tajani for a brief talk Thursday morning on the automotive and aerospace sectors. "[We are ready] to collaborate on the challenges of our time, such as cybersecurity," he tweeted in Italian.