Mitsotakis promotes Greek AI infrastructure while warning on social risks
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis used a San Francisco visit to promote Greece as a technology investment destination while offering an unusually direct warning about artificial intelligence. Speaking to roughly 250 founders, investors and operators, he said governments may already be “fighting yesterday’s battle” as AI chatbots and digital companions advance faster than public policy.
Mitsotakis described the Bay Area trip as both a fact-finding mission and a push to build commercial ties. He had visited Tesla and Sequoia Capital, and said Greece expects to regain developed-market status from MSCI next year. He presented that prospect as evidence that the country is no longer treated as a special economic case.
Digital investment and data-centre plans
Greece received roughly €36 billion from the European Union’s post-COVID recovery fund. Mitsotakis said much of that funding has gone towards digital infrastructure, including an online government portal intended to reduce queues for official paperwork.
He also highlighted a supercomputer being assembled with Hewlett Packard Enterprise in Lavrio, a port town. The system is expected to come online within months and is intended to support AI and scientific research in Greece.
The prime minister said the country has not faced significant public opposition to data-centre development despite concerns elsewhere about facilities’ electricity and water needs. Microsoft is building a cluster of data centres near Athens, while AWS has announced a deal with Greece’s largest utility to build the country’s biggest data centre in a former coal region.
Open questions on AI and society
Mitsotakis said Greece will introduce a social-media ban for children under 15 in January, but questioned whether such measures address the next challenge. He pointed to concerns about children growing up with AI companions, including digital boyfriends or girlfriends.
In education, Greece has run an OpenAI pilot intended to reduce teachers’ administrative work. Mitsotakis said personalised AI tutors could be useful, provided they do not replace the work of learning foundational skills. He also noted that students are already using chatbots to complete homework.
On employment, he said displacement will happen and that governments and societies are not prepared for its pace. He supported calls from frontier-model leaders to slow development, arguing that policymakers should listen when model builders say they do not fully understand how their systems improve themselves. He expects some form of smart regulation, with the United States playing a major role in shaping it.
Business implication
For businesses assessing AI opportunities in Greece, the message is two-sided: expanding digital infrastructure and investment incentives may create capacity for new projects, but deployment plans still need to account for skills, education, workforce disruption and evolving regulation.