Greek Leader Admits Tech Policymakers Are Playing Catch-Up on AI

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis came to San Francisco this week with a dual mission: pitch Greece as an emerging tech hub and admit what few leaders say out loud—he doesn't have the answers to AI's hardest questions. Speaking at an Endeavor Greece event before roughly 250 founders and investors, Mitsotakis described the visit as partly a fact-finding mission, following tours of Tesla and Sequoia Capital.

The prime minister led with Greece's economic turnaround. The country is paying down debt faster than ever and now borrows more cheaply than the U.S.—a stunning reversal from 2012, when Greek bond yields hit 40% during the debt crisis. He highlighted €36 billion in EU recovery funds redirected toward digital infrastructure, including an online government portal and a new supercomputer in Lavrio, set to launch soon for AI research. Greece has also reformed stock-option taxation, loosened labor laws, and offers returning citizens reduced taxes for up to seven years.

When discussing AI's societal effects, Mitsotakis dropped the trade-mission pitch entirely. Greece plans to ban social media for children under 15 starting January, but he admitted the policy may already lag behind reality—especially given AI chatbots' addictive design.