Elon Musk discussed AI risks, birth rates with Italy’s prime minister

• Elon Musk met the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, on Thursday.
• The pair discussed AI, European market rules, and birth rates.
• The Tesla CEO is expected to travel to France on Friday to speak at a tech conference.

Elon Musk has been in Europe this week. 

The Tesla CEO met the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, on Thursday for a wide-ranging discussion that touched on AI and birth rates. The prime minister called the meeting “fruitful” and a “moment of great cordiality” in a tweet.

She said: “We addressed some crucial issues: innovation, opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence, European market rules and birth rates.”

AI has been a consistent worry of Musk’s. Recently, the billionaire has been calling for more regulation and put his name to an open letter that called for a six-month pause on development. He has also expressed concerns about declining birth rates around the world, calling it one of the biggest risks to civilization. 

Musk is visiting Paris on Friday, where he will speak at the Viva Tech conference and is expected to meet the French prime minister, Emmanuel Macron.

The French government is trying to woo Elon Musk and convince him to build a Tesla factory in the country, per CNBC. Jean-Noël Barrot, the nation’s digital minister, told CNBC on Wednesday: “It will be great to have a Tesla factory in France, there has been a lot of effort and energy to make sure this is possible and this can happen.”