French president tells big tech CEOs they need to contribute more to society

Charles Platiau | AFP | Getty Images

French President Emmanuel Macron (C) poses for a family picture with Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame (3rdR), Facebook’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg (2ndR) and IMB’s President and CEO Ginni Rometty (2ndL) as he hosts the ‘Tech for Good’ summit over lunch with tech companies CEOs at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on May 23, 2018.

French President Emmanuel Macron told executives from the world’s biggest technology firms on Wednesday that he wanted innovation to be a driving force for the French economy, but also that they needed to contribute more to society.

The French leader paints himself as a champion of France’s plugged-in youth and wants to transform France into a “startup nation” that draws higher investments into technology and artificial intelligence. He is also spearheading efforts in Europe to have digital companies pay more tax at source.

Macron’s guest-list included Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, IBM’s Virginia Rometty, Intel’s Brian Krzanich, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and a raft of other big hitters in the corporate world.

“There is no free lunch,” he quipped in English to the executives lined up on the steps of the Elysee Palace for a photo call at a lunch meeting. “So I want from you some commitments.”

As Macron spoke, IBM announced it would hire about 1,400 people in France over the next two years in the fields of blockchain and cloud computing.

Ride-hailing app Uber also said it planned to offer all its European drivers an upgraded version of the health insurance it already provides in France in a drive to attract independent workers and fend off criticism over their treatment.

Macron will hold one-on-one talks with Mark Zuckerberg on tax and data privacy on the sidelines of the Tech For Good summit – a day after the Facebook chief executive faced questions from European Union lawmakers.