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 Inc (FB.O) Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, IBM’s (IBM.N) Virginia Rometty, Intel Corp’s (INTC.O) Brian Krzanich, Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O) 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 [UBER.UL] 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.

Those talks will be frank, an Elysee official said ahead of the meeting. While Macron will be pitching France Inc, he will also push his case for a European Union tax on digital turnover and a tougher fight against both data piracy and fake news.

Zuckerberg on Tuesday sailed through a grilling from EU lawmakers about the social network’s data policies, apologising to leaders of the European Parliament for a massive data leak but dodging numerous questions.

Macron told the executives that business needed to do more in tackling issues such as inequality and climate change.

“It is not possible just to have free riding on one side, when you make a good business,” the French president said.

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