THE Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday that he will meet with the president of Twitter and Tesla Elon Musk on Friday to “talk to him about cars” as the French government wants to convince the American billionaire to set up a factory in France.

“We will talk about artificial intelligence, (an area) where (Musk) is involved, social media, regulatory frameworks,” the French president said from the corridors of the VivaTech exhibition. “I’ll also talk to him about cars, batteries, for this sector, to encourage French and European attractiveness,” he added.

Elon Musk, a highly controversial figure due to his statements and purchase of the social networking site Twitter, wants to install a mega-factory in addition to those already in the US, Germany and China.

He is expected to speak on Friday at the 7th edition of the VivaTech exhibition, one of the biggest technology gatherings, which opened its doors today in Paris.

The French government hopes to convince Elon Musk that “France is the best possible place in Europe to set up the next Tesla factory,” Minister responsible for Digital Transition Jean-Noel Barot told CNBC today.

At the end of May, the minister, who is bringing forward a bill to regulate the digital space, had warned Twitter that it would be “banned, in the event of a relapse” in the EU if it did not respect European rules, specifically in relation to content control.

Macron, who has met Elon Musk twice in recent months, advocated from the corridors of the VivaTech exhibition today for a “collaborative approach in this area” and “social media that respect our democratic life more, that remove violence, better protect our children.”