Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited San Francisco on Monday to promote Greece’s economy and discuss artificial intelligence with founders, investors, and operators at an Endeavor Greece event. During the visit, Mitsotakis toured Tesla and Sequoia Capital as part of a fact-finding mission while pitching tech leaders to establish operations in Greece, which is set to regain developed market status next year. He highlighted the country's rapid debt reduction, lower borrowing costs compared to the United States, and investments in digital infrastructure funded by the EU post-COVID recovery fund, including a new Hewlett Packard Enterprise supercomputer in Lavrio designed to power AI and scientific research.
Mitsotakis also pointed to recent policy changes designed to attract tech talent, such as reformed stock option taxation, loosened labor laws, and tax incentives for returning citizens. Addressing AI policy and societal impacts, the prime minister acknowledged the limitations of current regulatory approaches, noting that an upcoming ban on social media for children under 15 may already be outdated given the rise of addictive AI chatbots and digital companions.
This rare candor from a head of state highlights the urgent policy challenges governments face as they try to regulate rapidly advancing artificial intelligence and its societal impacts.