Μake us preferred on Google From Nvidia’s laboratories and Sequoia Capital’s investment offices to the United Nations headquarters in New York, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ American tour moves from the frontlines of the technological revolution to the heart of global geopolitical crisis.
The prime minister’s visit began in San Francisco, with artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure investment, and the startup ecosystem taking center stage, before continuing from Wednesday, Sept. 23, in New York, where he will take part in the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.
The choice of California as the trip’s starting point carries particular symbolic weight. The government is seeking to position Greece not merely as an investment destination, but as a country staking a claim in the emerging artificial intelligence ecosystem, at a time when the expansion of computing infrastructure, data centers, and AI applications is reshaping the global economy. Mitsotakis visited the headquarters of both Nvidia and Sequoia Capital, meeting with leading executives, investors, and researchers at the cutting edge of technological change. The message from California is clear: Athens is working to deepen its ties with the international technology and investment community, showcasing the opportunities emerging in Greece across artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, and the startup sector.
The prime minister’s San Francisco schedule also included an Endeavor Greece event, a meeting with San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, and an address at Stanford’s Hoover Institution. From Wednesday, however, the scene shifts dramatically. Mitsotakis travels to New York for the UN General Assembly’s 81st session, arriving at one of the most complex international junctures in recent years.
The leaders’ general debate runs from September 22 to 28, under this year’s theme: “Better Together: 80 Years and More for Peace, Development and Human Rights” — reflecting the UN’s effort to restore trust while managing global transformation, so that the organization delivers results for all.
This year’s agenda captures both the ambitions and the strains facing the organization: wars and international security, the climate crisis, sustainable development, technological change, and AI governance all feature prominently, at a moment when the effectiveness and relevance of the multilateral system face intense scrutiny. The General Assembly convenes under the shadow of the war in Ukraine and the ongoing conflict centered on Iran and the Middle East.
These developments are expected to dominate discussions among world leaders, alongside pressing questions about the UN’s capacity to play an effective role in preventing and managing conflicts.
The agenda also includes dedicated sessions on climate action and a just energy transition, rising sea levels, pandemic prevention and response, and nuclear disarmament. Against this backdrop, one notable absence stands out: as things currently stand, no meeting has been scheduled between Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In previous years, New York had become a reliable venue for encounters between the two leaders — they met there in 2019, followed by further face-to-face talks on the sidelines of the General Assembly in 2023 and 2024.
This year, however, no such meeting is planned. The absence reflects the shifting climate in Greek-Turkish relations compared to the period of détente that followed the earthquakes in Turkey and led to the resumption of political dialogue. Mitsotakis himself has used the phrase that “the waters are once again turbulent” to describe the current state of affairs.
