Greece's PM warns tech leaders: we're unprepared for AI's pace and scale

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited San Francisco this week on an unusual trade mission. Rather than projecting unshakeable confidence, he told roughly 250 tech founders and investors something rare from a world leader: he doesn't yet have clear answers to many of the thorniest AI policy questions.

The prime minister framed his Bay Area visit—which included stops at Tesla and Sequoia Capital—as partly a fact-finding expedition to understand where technology is heading. Yet he was also there to rebuild Greece's appeal to tech talent and investment after the country's debt crisis forced an exodus of younger workers and prompted plans to boost infrastructure, including a new supercomputer near Athens and a series of attractive visa and tax programs for returning citizens.

A transformed economy seeking tech talent#

Greece is now regaining developed-market status from index provider MSCI next year, a milestone Mitsotakis presented as vindication of the country's turnaround. He highlighted aggressive debt reduction and borrowing costs that have dropped to levels unimaginable during the 2012 crisis, when Greek yields exceeded 40%.

The country has invested roughly €36 billion from the EU's post-COVID recovery fund into digital infrastructure—from online government portals to workforce retraining. Mitsotakis also pointed to policy reforms: revised stock-option taxation, loosened labor laws, and substantial tax incentives for Greeks returning home. His larger ambition is to reclaim the brain drain that occurred during the crisis and, as American work visas tighten, position Greece as an alternative tech hub.

Grappling with AI's unknowns#

The conversation shifted markedly when Mitsotakis turned to how AI might reshape society. Rather than offer platitudes, he acknowledged genuine uncertainty about what lies ahead.

Greece is set to ban social media for children under 15 starting this January, mirroring steps other nations are weighing or implementing. But he suggested even that measure may already be outdated given the addictive pull of AI chatbots. "Sometimes I feel that we're already fighting yesterday's battle," he said. "What does it mean for our kids to grow up with digital companions or boyfriends or girlfriends?"

On education, Greece has piloted an OpenAI program to ease teachers' administrative burden and explored personalized AI tutoring. Yet Mitsotakis cautioned that benefits hinge on AI not substituting for the foundational work of learning—a concern sharpened by the reality that students are already using chatbots to shortcut homework.