Greek PM says governments are unprepared for AI’s societal impact

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said governments worldwide are unprepared for the societal and economic disruptions AI will bring, emphasizing that policymakers are already ‘fighting yesterday’s battle’ as AI evolves faster than regulation. Speaking at an event in San Francisco, Mitsotakis acknowledged that leaders lack answers to many AI-related questions currently being debated privately, framing his Bay Area trip partly as a fact-finding mission.

He pointed to AI’s rapid integration into daily life as evidence of the lag between technological change and policy responses, noting that Greece’s upcoming ban on social media for children under 15 may already be outdated given the rise of AI chatbots. Mitsotakis also expressed caution about AI’s role in education, citing a pilot program with OpenAI to reduce teachers’ administrative work but warning that students are already using chatbots to complete homework.

On AI infrastructure, Mitsotakis highlighted Greece’s efforts to attract data center investment, contrasting global opposition to such projects with Greece’s welcoming stance. He noted Microsoft’s construction of a data center cluster near Athens and AWS’s agreement with Greece’s largest utility to build the country’s largest data center in a former coal region, both of which have faced minimal local opposition.

Mitsotakis endorsed calls from frontier AI labs for caution in development, stating that if model builders say they are unsure about how their models improve themselves, ‘we need to listen to them.’ He also acknowledged the inevitability of ‘smart regulation,’ with the U.S. likely setting the global standard, while suggesting Greece could host international discussions on AI governance.