Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with ElevenLabs CEO Mati Staniszewski at the Maximos Mansion and subsequently attended the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Greek Government and the company, in the presence on behalf of the government, of the Minister of Digital Governance Dimitris Papastergiou and the Minister of Tourism Olga Kefalogianni. ElevenLabs is among the global pioneers in the development of artificial intelligence in the field of voice technology. (Cover photo: https://www.ertnews.gr/)

During the meeting, they discussed the main areas of cooperation, with a focus on the use of ElevenLabs technology on the Gov.gr portal, in tourism, and in the preservation of Greece’s local dialects and idioms.

• As for Gov.gr, the goal is to enhance digitized services with voice-activated features, particularly those services that are widely used by citizens, thereby facilitating equal access and service for all users. In a second phase, the possibility of a voice interface will be explored, which will allow users to give voice commands or ask questions verbally.
• As for tourism, ElevenLabs’ technology is expected to be integrated into the VisitGreece portal, to help provide information and guided tours to visitors at museums and archaeological sites, and to help promote lesser-known destinations.
• With regard to preserving our country’s linguistic diversity, a pilot digital library of local accents and dialects will be created in collaboration with the Athena Research Center and the Institute of Language and Speech Processing. In the first phase, the natural speech of speakers of distinct dialects will be recorded to serve as the basis for creating a digital voice.

During the discussion, views were also exchanged on the potential use of voice models in civil protection, an area in which Greece already has the tried-and-tested early warning system “112”, as well as on how to better connect ancient Greek philosophy with the modern public.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis emphasized, “We are implementing one of the most ambitious digital transformation strategies of any European country. We provide more than 2,200 digital services to our citizens. But of course, we used to think of Gov.gr as a screen interface where people would type in whatever their requests were, but of course AI is opening up completely new opportunities to interact with the state in a completely conversational, multilingual, voice-enabled and at the end of the day much more intuitive manner.”

Prime Minister added, “I’m also very happy that we’re extending this partnership beyond government services. In tourism, and we’ve discussed this frequently with the Minister, these technologies can vastly help people experience what Greece has to offer in entirely new ways and making our history, our culture, our destinations available in every language.” “And I’m also fascinated by the third aspect of this partnership, which relates to the preservation of our very rich linguistic heritage of various dialects that are still spoken in Greece. Unfortunately, some of them we risk losing, and the ability of AI to capture this linguistic wealth and to keep it alive for future generations is truly fascinating.”

Mati Staniszewski highlighted Greece’s role within the ElevenLabs ecosystem, noting “I’m very excited about the MOU and, as you said, the three pillars of bringing it to the digital services across 2,200 parts of the government and across amplifying tourism and preserving the languages. Greece has been a big part of ElevenLabs from the beginning. We have a Greek leading our research engineering, we have a Greek leading our deployment efforts, and some of the earliest enterprise customers were from Greece. So even more excited for what Greece is doing and having a pleasure to be a part of the voice layer of that ambition.”

According to Minister Papastergiou, the partnership will focus on digital voice services for the public sector, “Pharos” — Greece’s AI Factory for culture, language, health, and environmental sustainability — and the digital mAiGreece platform, developed by the Ministries of Tourism and Digital Governance to support visitors to the country.

(Source: https://www.primeminister.gr/en/2026/05/28/38599, https://www.ertnews.gr/   )

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ remarks during his conversation with the Chief Executive Officer of ElevenLabs Mati Staniszewski, in the context of the “Panathēnea 2026” festival

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis participated in a conversation with the Chief Executive Officer of ElevenLabs Mati Staniszewski, in the context of the “Panathēnea 2026” festival, held at the Zappeion Megaron. In his opening remarks, referring to the memorandum of understanding signed between the Greek government and Eleven Labs, the Prime Minister noted, among others:

“What we did today was to expand the partnerships that we established with leading AI companies to improve public services. The idea is very simple. We take one of the leading, if not the leading, voice AI chatbot companies in the world, and we try to integrate their technologies in delivering public services through our Gov.gr site. So instead of typing your request, you just talk to the site, and hopefully you will get meaningful responses and engage in constructive conversations”.

When asked about his personal ambition to transform Greece from a laggard into a leader in the fields of technology and artificial intelligence, Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated, among others, “We made the digital transformation of the state our number one priority, and I think we have been able to leapfrog many European countries in terms of delivering a very convenient and user-friendly interface with the government through our Gov.gr site”… “We have a strategy. We have a Ministry in charge of Artificial Intelligence. We have a data policy, which is absolutely critical when it comes to leveraging open data. We have an open data policy. You can go on our Gov.gr site and look at the number of open data datasets that we have made available only over the past two weeks. This is an incredible treasure for many of the companies that may be joining us today who are looking for well-curated, high-quality data to develop their own models”.

When asked about Greece’s priorities in the field of artificial intelligence, the Prime Minister noted, among others, “I would highlight three areas. First of all, be a leading country in terms of using AI smartly and responsibly to provide public services, develop a sovereign AI infrastructure that leverages the interest to invest in the country, whether it means our new supercomputer, which is in the process of being built in Lavrio, “Daedalus”, or even encouraging big data gigafactories such as a project which is launched by the Public Power Corporation in Western Macedonia. So, we want to be part of the sovereign European infrastructure space, and I think we have enough investment opportunities and a well-thought-out strategy to generate interest for these types of investments.”

Read the full article here: https://www.primeminister.gr/en/2026/05/28/38608

Read also: DAEDALUS Supercomputer Enters Final Implementation Phase

The post Memorandum of Understanding Between Greece and AI Company ElevenLabs for Digital Government appeared first on Greek News Agenda.

DAEDALUS, the computing core of the AI Factory Pharos, is the new supercomputer expected to transform Greece’s research and innovation landscape. It is now entering the final phase of its implementation: the entire system has already been assembled at HPE’s factory in the Czech Republic and is undergoing full technical inspection before being transferred to its final installation site at the Lavrion Technological and Cultural Park of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) (cover photo: Preparation of the Lavrion facilities).

The first photographs of the new DAEDALUS supercomputer have already been released, generating waves of anticipation among those awaiting the start of its operation at the Lavrion facilities. As shown in the photographic material, the facilities are currently being prepared to host it later this summer. This is a highly complex construction consisting of specialized cabinets with direct liquid cooling and high power specifications, integrating more than 2,000 powerful NVIDIA Grace Hopper (GH200) superchips, specifically designed for large-scale artificial intelligence applications. At HPE’s laboratories, extensive operational testing of the individual units and their interaction as a unified system is currently underway, ensuring that before its transfer and installation in Lavrion, its stability and performance under real workload conditions have been fully validated.

Based on measurements already carried out, DAEDALUS is expected to reach a computing power exceeding 89 quadrillion arithmetic operations per second (89 × 10¹⁵ FLOPS in double precision). Compared to home computers and typical professional systems, this corresponds to performance levels millions of times faster, enabling it to solve computational problems in hours or days that would require weeks or months on conventional machines. The installation of DAEDALUS in Greece marks the first time such a powerful system is hosted in the country and is expected to position the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and Lavrion among Europe’s leading computational infrastructures, serving as a regional hub in Southeastern Europe.

The Greek Artificial Intelligence “Factory” PHAROS is becoming a regional AI hub in Southeastern Europe, as it will be connected with four AI Factory Antennas in Cyprus, Malta, North Macedonia, and Serbia (Source: www.ekt.gr/en )

Pharos, the Greek AI Factory

The Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, speaking to the Athens–Macedonian News Agency, stressed that “DAEDALUS is not just another technical project. It is a strategic investment of national importance that places our country at the core of Europe’s computing and technological power. At a time when Artificial Intelligence and data determine economic and geopolitical influence, Greece cannot remain merely a consumer of technology. DAEDALUS gives us the ability to produce knowledge, innovation, and high value-added applications here, in our own country”.

The Minister of Digital Governance continued: “As the computing core of the AI Factory Pharos, it will provide startups, universities, and public institutions with access to advanced infrastructure that until now was the privilege of only a few countries. From healthcare and sustainable development to the Greek language and culture, we are creating the conditions for Greece to shape developments — not merely follow them. With DAEDALUS, we are building a new pillar of digital sovereignty. We are putting into practice our choice for an economy of knowledge, technology, and extroversion, with a meaningful and active role in the European Artificial Intelligence ecosystem.”

The organization and operation of the system are not limited to the “machine” itself. It constitutes an integrated infrastructure in which the supercomputer will serve as the core of Pharos, an AI Factory that will provide the service layer: access rules, support, tools, data management, and human expertise. Pharos aims to make supercomputing power accessible to research centers, universities, startups, and the public sector by offering services and technical assistance so users can leverage high-performance computing safely, compliantly, and efficiently. Technical matters such as sensitive data management, anonymization, preparation of AI-ready datasets, and the implementation of proper access policies will be handled through the Pharos service ecosystem, reducing barriers for businesses and researchers.

The practical significance of the infrastructure is immediate and multi-layered. For Greek startups and SMEs, DAEDALUS and Pharos mean access to computing power and technical support that until now were available only through costly commercial cloud services or with significant delays when accessing international centers. This can reduce development costs and accelerate AI model training and optimization cycles, enabling a faster transition from proof-of-concept to functional prototypes and pilot applications in sectors such as healthcare, public services, energy, and the environment. Universities and research institutions gain access to infrastructure for complex simulations and large-scale experiments, reducing the need to send workloads to foreign platforms and strengthening opportunities for collaboration with industry.

In the healthcare sector, for example, a Greek startup will be able to rapidly train large models that prioritize images from emergency cases—such as X-rays or CT scans—and integrate anonymization and secure data management tools in order to test and validate clinical applications much faster than has been practically feasible until now. In the public sector, access to computing power at a national scale opens up possibilities for improved data analysis, faster crisis response, optimization of energy grids, and applications for environmental protection and natural resource management.

PHAROS AI Factory, Greece’s national ecosystem for accelerating Artificial Intelligence innovation, participated in Athens Digital Health Week 2026, held on 16-20 February 2026 in Athens

The installation and full operation process follows a specific timeline: DAEDALUS will be installed in Lavrion in the summer of 2026, while full operation and the provision of services to the country’s innovation ecosystem through Pharos are expected in the autumn of 2026. The project is being implemented under the auspices of the National Infrastructures for Research and Technology Network (EDYTE S.A. – GRNET), with scientific and administrative oversight from leading figures in the field, including distinguished professors and representatives in European programs such as EuroHPC, as well as from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). The close collaboration among academic, technical, and administrative bodies, along with the involvement of EU funding instruments and the Greek public administration, aims to ensure that the investment will generate multiplier benefits for the economy and research.

(Source: www.amna.gr : “DAEDALUS – “Building” the Heart of Pharos: From Assembly to Installation in Summer 2026”, Photos: Ministry of Digital Governance)

DAEDALUS supercomputer of GRNET at the Lavrion Technological Cultural Park of the NTUA (animation)

Read also:

Daedalus Supercomputer to elevate Greek research to new heights

Greece’s “Pharos”: A landmark proposal for Europe’s AI Factory Initiative and for the creation of a Greek Large Language Model

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Mr. Prime Minister, I would like to begin by thanking you for organizing this very important summit and for placing India and the Global South at the heart of this global discussion on artificial intelligence. The framework you chose for this summit, under the theme “People, Planet, and Progress”, reflects the fact that artificial intelligence is not only a profound and immense technological transformation, but also a cultural one. The choices we make today will determine whether artificial intelligence expands opportunities or deepens inequalities.

Allow me to briefly share three thoughts. First, as many of you have pointed out, the benefits of artificial intelligence must be widely distributed. Every technological revolution in history has generated enormous wealth. However, history teaches us that the distribution of this wealth is never automatic. Artificial intelligence has the potential to lead to unprecedented scientific breakthroughs, to dramatically improve healthcare, to strengthen education, and to support climate resilience.

However, the question that arises is simple: who benefits beyond the major technology companies and their shareholders? In our countries, governments must ensure that workers are reskilled, that small businesses have access to artificial intelligence tools, that public services are upgraded. Farmers, nurses, teachers, and small entrepreneurs must feel the benefits of this technology in a tangible way. Concerns about the displacement of a significant portion of the workforce are legitimate and must be addressed as soon as possible.

In Greece, we are moving in this direction, as digitalization has made public services much more accessible. The integration of artificial intelligence into education will help reduce the learning gap, while progress in telemedicine, predictive analytics, and personalized preventive care is making healthcare far more proactive—shifting it from treatment in hospitals to prevention at home and improving the quality of life for all citizens.

As countries, we must avoid a world where access to computers, data, and talent is concentrated in only a few geographic regions. Artificial intelligence cannot be a story of digital concentration. It must be a story of digital inclusion.

My second point is that the state itself must improve. Technology is evolving at an exceptionally rapid pace, but far too often our public institutions operate with outdated systems and rules. If we want artificial intelligence to serve society, governments must significantly upgrade their own “software.” Public procurement frameworks designed for the industrial era are not suited to the age of artificial intelligence, and must become faster, more outcome-oriented, and more open to start-ups and innovative businesses. Public administrations must invest in their own capabilities, in digital talent, in data infrastructure, and in AI literacy across all ministries.

This is not simply about implementing a few pilot projects. We must move from the stage of experimentation to large-scale deployment, as you have done with great success in India, Mr. Prime Minister. The countries that will succeed in artificial intelligence will not simply be those that build powerful models, but those that build capable states.

To that end, we must choose our regulatory priorities wisely. For Greece—and for me personally—the protection of minors from digital addiction and the risks of the internet is a matter of intergenerational solidarity and a top priority for my government. I am pleased to see that many other countries are moving in this direction. Greece will very soon announce its own decision regarding banning minors’ and adolescents’ access to social media.

However, this is aligned with our democratic responsibility to ensure, as the Prime Minister of Croatia mentioned, that technology strengthens the public sphere and does not overwhelm us with misinformation and hatred. I am in favor of an extensive dialogue with the major technology companies, but we must be aware that if this dialogue does not produce tangible results, the only solution will be regulation.

Finally, with regard to the geopolitical impact of artificial intelligence, we should lean toward adaptation. Artificial intelligence is not only about code and computation, but it is also a component of national power, and interdependencies are embedded throughout the entire AI ecosystem, from semiconductors to cloud infrastructure, from datasets to research and collaboration. No country can achieve this alone. That is why trusted partnerships matter.

In Greece, we have built partnerships with all major cloud service providers, while at the same time developing our own capabilities through AI factories and initiatives supported by the European Union, led by national champions, and attracting investment from around the world.

And balance is essential. A world in which technology is being instrumentalized to pressure trusted partners, or in which excessive regulation becomes a tool to suppress innovation, is a world in which collective innovation declines. If we fragment the artificial intelligence ecosystem into rigid segments, we reduce the benefits for everyone. If we capitalize on interdependence responsibly, we expand opportunities for all.

Ladies and gentlemen, if we ensure that the dividends of artificial intelligence are shared, if we modernize the state to keep pace with technology, and if we build trusted partnerships that extend innovation rather than fragment it, then artificial intelligence can truly serve people, drive progress, and protect our planet.

And as I listened to the Prime Minister of India, I thought that it is the combination of artificial intelligence and ancestral intelligence, whether found in ancient Sanskrit texts or in the writings of Greek philosophers, that will ultimately lead us to a fairer future, with prosperity. This is the message that Greece wants to send to the world, and I hope it resonates. Thank you.

(Source: www.primeminister.gr)

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ meeting with the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.

During the meeting, the two leaders conducted a comprehensive review of bilateral relations and confirmed the excellent level of cooperation, two years after Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ official visit to India and two and a half years after Mr. Modi’s reciprocal visit to Athens, which marked the upgrade of Greece-India relations to a strategic partnership.

They also expressed their mutual desire to capitalize on this momentum to further deepen relations, particularly in the areas of defense, shipping, shipbuilding and repair, and infrastructure.

The Prime Minister reiterated that Greece can serve as India’s gateway to Europe, due to its geographical location and infrastructure, while restating Greece’s willingness to participate in the IMEC Economic Corridor.

The two leaders also discussed the EU-India trade agreement and the prospects it creates. The Prime Minister congratulated Mr. Modi on the agreement, which he described as a unique opportunity to strengthen EU-India economic and geopolitical ties during uncertain times internationally.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis emphasized the opportunities now emerging in the Indian market for high-quality Greek agri-food products, such as olive oil and kiwifruit.

The latest developments in Ukraine were also discussed during the meeting.

Mr. Mitsotakis and Mr. Modi also exchanged views on the development of artificial intelligence. The Prime Minister stressed that Greece and India have much to contribute to this discussion.

(Source: www.primeminister.gr)

The post Speech by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the “AI Impact Summit”, at the Bharat Mandapam International Exhibition Centre, New Delhi, 19.2.2026 appeared first on Greek News Agenda.

The APSIM project (Applications of Situated Simulations) aims to promote the Greek culture using innovative technologies, assisting both the general public and the new generations to get familiar and love the archaeological wealth of Greece. Using an Augmented Reality (AR) application, visitors of archaeological sites and museums will have the opportunity to enjoy a completely different tour-experience in the archaeological sites, resembling one of a video gaming!

Through the Augmented Reality application CirculAR, cultural heritage sites are transformed into immersive, interactive experiences that connect the past with the present. By combining scientifically documented content with advanced 3D modeling, spatial mapping, and gamification techniques, CirculAR enables users to explore monuments in their original form directly within their physical environment. Using a smartphone or tablet, visitors can visualize reconstructions, navigate around monuments, and engage with historical narratives in a dynamic and intuitive way. The appliation is available free of charge for Android devices via the Google Play Store and for iOS via the App Store.

The creation of the CirculAR application was the result of multifaceted collaboration among scientists from different fields: archaeologists, historians, computer engineers, interface designers, educators, and specialists in cultural policy development. It was developed within the framework of the European APSIM project, coordinated by the I-SENSE research team of the Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS) of the National Technical University of Athens (NTU), with the participation of the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades, the Department of History and Archaeology of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (University Excavation of Dion), the Epigraphic Museum of Athens, and the companies “GEOANALYSIS S.A.” and “Comic IKE.” The project is implemented under the “Research–Create–Innovate” action of the General Secretariat for Research and Technology, co-funded by the European Union.

The island of Delos- sacred in antiquity serving for millennia as a cultural, economic, and religious center - comes to life once again with the help of the innovative Augmented Reality application CirculAR. Using a simple smartphone or tablet, users of the application can experience an augmented reality journey: they can bring the monuments of Delos to life, view them in three dimensions, rotate them, walk around them, and enjoy a completely new, immersive visiting experience. The Temple of Apollo, the Stoa and the House of the Naxians, the Propylaea, the Terrace of the Lions—all those monuments that today are discernible only through their architectural remains—are revived through augmented reality and the use of scientifically documented content.

By using the camera, sensors embedded in mobile phones, and spatial mapping and positioning algorithms, the application “reads” the landscape and digitally places monuments or traces of the past exactly where they once stood. “The user participates, learns, and forms an emotional connection with the monument, transforming historical memory into a personal experience. And this is precisely the goal—so that we can creatively reconnect with the past,” notes researcher Dr. Tina Katika, Head of the XR Department at I-SENSE. (Source: apsim-project.eu,  amna.gr)

APSIM’s Pilot Demonstrations in Delos Island

According to Dr. Angelos Amditis, project coordinator and Director of Research and Development at ICCS/NTUA, speaking to the Athens–Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA), “We are effectively bridging today’s imagination with life in the past. Through the application, you don’t simply see stones or foundations—you see stories, you see architecture, you see human activities. As a result, the application becomes a means of interpretation and understanding, as well as an educational tool grounded in scientific accuracy, essentially transforming the ordinary citizen from a passive observer into an active explorer. In this way, every visit becomes a process of discovery, navigation, knowledge gathering, interaction, and connection”. “The greatest value of the application is that it functions as a bridge across time, carrying the past into the present and the present into the future. In this way, it helps us preserve not only the material but also the intangible dimension of History—creating knowledge and experience, and forging a meaningful relationship between people and place.” (Source: amna.gr)

The application is not limited to Delos. Through the same technology, users can also explore other monuments across Greece. The aim is to incorporate additional monuments into the application in the future.

The Episcopal Basilica of Dion in Pieria.  The ancient Dion, in the region of Pieria, was a sacred site of the Macedonian kingdom. The Roman colony of Dion flourished during the imperial period, particularly in late antiquity. Dion became an episcopal see, which reinforced its importance as an urban centre for the wider region. Near the centre of the ancient city and at a short distance from the Forum, the so-called Episcopal Basilica was built in the 5^th century CE, with at least two successive building phases.

The Philo’s Arsenal (Skeuotheke of Philon), located in the port of Zea (Piraeus), is a significant building preserving the technological memory of ancient warships. In 347 BC, the Athenians decided to construct a building in Piraeus to store the equipment of the military fleet—such as sails, ropes, and tents—during the winter months. The rectangular building, 130 meters long and 18 meters wide, called the Skeuotheke, was designed by the architects Philo and Euthydomos. Ancient writers considered the building the most eminent among the structures of ancient Greek architecture. Its virtual reconstruction was based on a surviving marble inscription, now exhibited at the Epigraphic Museum of Athens, which has been preserved in its entirety.

I.A.

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The hunting fresco, which adorns the frieze on the façade of the royal tomb of Philip II at Aigai, is the most significant and largest known painting of the classical world to have been revealed to date.

The recently completed interdisciplinary ReVis project, led by archeologist Hariclia Brecoulaki, constitutes the first comprehensive and scientifically documented study of this fresco from Aigai. It employed pioneering, non-invasive diagnostic and imaging techniques based on digital technology. The monumental fresco, which nearly entirely covered the long frieze of the so-called Macedonian tomb — 5.56 meters long and 1.16 meters high — consists of six open-air hunting scenes.

New data regarding the ancient pigments, painting style, and iconography of this emblematic fresco, and more broadly, on the monumental Greek painting of the 4th century BCE, emerged through this innovative study, a collaboration between the National Hellenic Research Foundation, the National Centre For Scientific Research "Demokritos" and the Hemathia Ephorate of Antiquities.

The ultimate goal of the research project was to gain a more accurate understanding of the fresco’s technique and iconography, as well as to propose a new digital restoration at its original scale, based on archaeometric data, combining AI tools (Christos Simatos, visual artist) and contemporary artistic creation (Emmanouil Bitsakis, painter).

Ancient Greek painting is a little-known facet of Greek art: few people realize that life in antiquity was full of paintings, from public buildings to private homes, made with delicate materials that haven’t survived — mostly painted on wood, hence their absence from museum collections.

The great painters of the 4th century BCE, the golden age of Greek painting, were highly sought-after, producing sophisticated works with advanced techniques that laid the foundation for painting in subsequent centuries.

Dr Hariclia Brecoulaki, who has devoted her career to studying ancient Greek painting and color, is a senior researcher at the Institute of Historical Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation, and the scientific lead for the digital restoration of the fresco. In her interview with Lifo, she stated:

"The striking composition of the royal hunt, created by a gifted 4th-century BCE painter on the façade of the imposing royal tomb before it was covered by the earthen mound, is internationally renowned and represents the most significant and largest-scale painting of the classical world discovered to date.

"Comprising six hunting scenes in an open landscape with perspectival elements, the composition includes three mounted and seven on-foot hunters wearing distinct clothing and accessories, and nine dogs attacking and injuring various types of game, primarily a boar and a lion. The setting blends natural and man-made elements, such as a rectangular column topped with statuettes. Despite the action, all animals are shown mortally wounded, with the hunters in full control — symbolizing dominance.

Thus, the hunt may serve as a metaphor for the battlefield, a display of power by the Macedonian kings, still resonating from their major victory at Chaeronea, in which Alexander played a crucial role. Many studies have focused on the frieze, proposing theories about the hunt’s meaning, its setting, the symbolism of multiple prey, the social roles of the hunters, and whether the figures correspond to historical Macedonian court members.

However, due to poor preservation and limited access, it remains difficult for viewers to appreciate its artistic value or decipher its iconography clearly. The belief that Greek painters practiced "tetrachromy" (painting using only four pigments: white, black, yellow, and red) influenced artistic and scholarly interpretations of Greek painting since the Renaissance.

In my research at the National Hellenic Research Foundation, I began in 2013 — with colleagues Andreas Karydas, Christos Simatos, and Giovanni Verri — a pilot diagnostic study of the hunting fresco from Philip’s tomb at Aigai. At that time, the Ephor of Antiquities in Imathia, Angeliki Kotaridi, supported us by granting permission and installing scaffolding on the tomb’s façade, enabling us to take sample color readings, photograph the scene, and apply imaging techniques that revealed colors and shapes invisible to the naked eye.

This initial study made it clear that the ancient painter used a wider range of pigments than previously believed, applied over large surfaces, and that the technique was extraordinarily complex for its time. Further analysis of color composition and painting technique was warranted. Additionally, through visible-induced luminescence and fluorescence photography, previously unseen drawing details emerged.

Ten years later, in March 2023, with funding from the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI), we organized — with a team of colleagues — the continuation and completion of the 2013 project as ReVis, an interdisciplinary endeavor combining archaeological expertise, archaeometric research, AI tools, and artistic interpretations.

The goal remains a better understanding of the fresco’s technique and imagery and a new digital restoration at life-size, based on the latest scientific findings — enabling a more accurate reconstruction of the original polychromy and offering modern audiences a clearer view of this unique masterpiece.

Today, the polychromy of ancient sculpture and architecture is more widely recognized thanks to various exhibitions and studies both in Greece (e.g., the Acropolis Museum, the Αcropolis Restoration Service-YSMA) and abroad (e.g., "Gods in Color"). However, monumental painting remains largely unseen. We felt this ambitious effort was worth undertaking.

We aimed to create a more faithful recreation of the original composition — to "revive" this masterpiece so it can be better studied by experts and appreciated by the general public."

According to the Portal for the Greek Language, regarding the historical figures possibly depicted:

It’s difficult to determine whether the hunting scene in the Vergina fresco is a historical event — even loosely interpreted — or a symbolic, fictional composition. In either case, some of the mounted hunters are likely historical figures. Yet, identifying them and determining the exact date of the fresco — and of the tomb — remains challenging. If the tomb was built in the 340s–330s BCE, the bearded rider may be Philip II (d. 336 BCE) and the youthful, wreath-wearing rider Alexander the Great. If, instead, the tomb dates to the late 4th century BCE, the deceased could be Philip III Arrhidaeus, Alexander’s half-brother (d. 316 BCE). In any case, the fresco places us within the royal Macedonian milieu before the end of the 4th century BCE.

On April 5, 2025, an international conference titled "The Aigai Hunt Frieze Revealed: An Interdisciplinary Investigation and Digital Reconstruction" presented the outcomes of the ReVis project. From April 9 to 12, a life-size digital print of the fresco’s restoration was exhibited, along with original artworks by Emmanouil Bitsakis, used in the reconstruction, at 16 Fokionos Negri Street.

ReVis was funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI) under the "2nd Call for HFRI Research Projects to Support Faculty Members and Researchers" (Project No. 4366). Scientific supervisor is Dr. Haricleia Brecoulaci, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Historical Research of the National Hellenic Reasearch Foundation. The project is implemented in collaboration with the National Centre For Scientific Research "Demokritos," led by Dr. Andreas Karydas, and the Hemathia Ephorate of Antiquities, with Dr. Anastasia Georgiadou as on-site scientific lead.

ReVis also benefited from access to the advanced facilities of the European IPERION-HS/MOLAB consortium.

I.L., with information from the Greek Ministry of Culture, Lifo, Ta Nea and Portal for the Greek Language.

Read more from Greek News Agenda:

• The Archaeological Site and Polycentric Museum of Aigai
• Archaeologist and ‘Archaeostoryteller’ Ted Papakostas on discovering the ‘entirety’ of Ancient Greece
• Meet “Demokritos” the biggest Research Centre of Greece

The post From Pigments to Pixels: The digital reconstuction of the Aigai Hunt Frieze, classical world’s most significant painting appeared first on Greek News Agenda.

‘Meltemi’ is the first Greek Large Language Model (LLM),  trained by the Institute for Language and Speech Processing of the Athena Research & Innovation Center  on a corpus of high-quality Greek texts.

Large Language Models (LLMs) have revolutionized the field of AI, opening up new opportunities for research and industry applications.  It been shown that open LLMs are competitive alternatives to commercial, siloed solutions and their utilization can provide a higher level of control over the development of safe and application-optimized models.

However, due to the sheer volume of data required, most developed open LLMs have been trained on vast, mostly English, monolingual datasets (e.g., Dolma), limiting their performance in other languages. Recently, there have been efforts to extend the capabilities of open LLMs to other languages (e.g., LeoLM for German, Aguila for Spanish, etc.).

To address these challenges the Institute for Language and Speech Processing (ILSP) developed and released Meltemi, the first LLM for the Greek language. Meltemi is developed as a bilingual model; while being highly proficient in English, it has been extended to understand and generate fluent text in Modern Greek. Meltemi was built on top of the Mistral-7B language model, which is trained on a large corpus of English text, so ILSP extended it with added proficiency for the Greek language, by utilizing a large corpus consisting of approximately 40 billion tokens (i.e. words).

Out of these 40 billion tokens, 28.5 billion are Greek, derived from publicly available resources. Furthermore, to ensure that the model has bilingual capabilities, ISLP used additional sub-corpora with 10.5 billion tokens of English texts and a parallel Greek-English dataset of 600 million tokens. This corpus has been processed, filtered, and deduplicated to ensure data quality.

There two variants of Meltemi: the foundation model, and a model which can be used for chat applications.

As for the model’s name, “Meltemi is a strong, dry north wind that blows across the Aegean Sea, during the summer months, with its peak usually occurring in July and August. Its intensity can vary from gentle breezes to strong gales, making it both a vital aspect of local weather and a significant factor in the region’s climate.” The name ‘Meltemi’ was chosen to symbolize the feeling of freshness and rejuvenation this cool breeze brings.

The ILSP's Intradisciplinary History

The Institute for Language and Speech Processing (ILSP) was established in 1985 by of a small team of scientists working on the EUROTRA machine translation project. This team, composed of linguists and information technologists and led by NTUA Professor George Carayannis, gradually grew both in size and scope of activities.

In 1991, ILSP was officially recognized as a Research Institute under the auspices of the General Secretariat of Research and Technology In 2003, ILSP became part of the newly established Athena Research and Innovation Center in Information, Communication and Knowledge Technologies (Athena R.C.).

As, Nasos Katsamanis, principal researcher and deputy director at ILSP, tells it to newspaper “Kathimerini,” the team that built Meltemi came together thanks to one savage tweet:: "About a year ago, colleagues from the U.S. came here for a seminar. They were telling us that they are working on new language models, asking us we are doing here for the Greek language. This discussion coincided with a very scathing comment on Twitter from someone well-known in the field who wrote: "What are they doing at the Athena Research Center, won't they finally produce a Greek language model?" So, after all that, here we are with our Meltemi''.

With the Institute’s history of bringing together researchers from various fields -such as linguistics and informational technology- to work on language technologies, it was always a question of "If not us, then who?" However, as reported by Kathimerini’s, for such a project to take shape, four key elements were necessary:

• Linguistic data, meaning texts containing billions of words
• Machine power, in this case Amazon's cloud computing infrastructure accessed through GRNET - National Infrastructures for Research and Technology
• Algorithms
• Expertise

It is evident that without the Institute's data collection projects that have been active since the 1990s, the team would not have been able to create the first Greek Large Language Model

30 Billion Greek Words

"We collected numerous Greek texts, homogenized them, and prepared them. We removed duplicate texts and those with toxic, racist, and sexist content. The Greek words we have collected and included in a large training corpus total 30 billion, although some words are repeated. Of these, eight million were collected within 12 months," explains researcher Prokopis Prokopidis.

The undertaking was further complicated by two factors: cost and time. In this case, a three-day mistake would have cost them more than $7,000.

“The team had reserved the cloud computing infrastructure for a specific period, and the usage cost amounted to $100 per hour. There was a moment when we realized that a mistake would cost us dearly. In the end, we fixed it, but I will never forget how anxious I felt," recalls researcher Georgios Paraskevopoulos.

Due to the fact that the choice of training data is related to the results the user will receive, the team excluded from the beginning the huge sources of data coming from Greek social media, choosing to use data from theses, books, school textbooks, the Greek legislation and everything else that was free to use copyright.

“It's actually very difficult to make a model in a language that doesn't have as much appeal as English. Consider that a Portuguese can understand a Spanish when they speak, so you can adapt Portuguese to a Spanish model, just like Bulgarian to a Russian one. This is not the case for Greek. It is a language spoken by about 15 million people on the planet, that is less than 0.5%. So we had to do it from the scratch with great attention to getting the data right," Georgios Paraskevopoulos stresses.

Meltemi Uses

Although Meltemi is available as an open model for research and commercial purposes, the general public cannot yet try it online – like they can with ChatGPT, as the team still needs to complete some technical issues. Small and medium-sized businesses are already using customized versions of it to build specific products in the health, education, tourism and culture sectors.

Giving a concrete example of where Meltemi can be used, scientist Maria Yagou tells "Kathimerini" that the institute is currently creating a digital assistant based on Meltemi. In an educational setting, the digital assistant will be able to chat with students, solve questions on their teaching material, create exercises according to their needs, explain terms and even simplify some texts from their textbooks. In the health sector it could decode the doctor’s medial reports or even create a report upon the user´s request.

Members of the team behind Meltemi

Vasilis Katsouros: "We are here for the digital survival of the Greek language"

One of the challenges we are discussing is the timelessness of the Greek language. That is, how can a language model speak from ancient Greek, to dialects and the colloquial language. This is a complex undertaking. But we are here to support the digital survival of the Greek language.

Meltemi can be applied to anything you can imagine, from the field of economics to the field of commerce, as long as the fundamental model is adapted to specific data from the field in question.

Prokopis Prokopidis: "Our role is to support Greek with new technologies"

Building Meltemi was a challenge because Greek has a different alphabet, so it's more difficult to transfer knowledge from other languages ​​or dialects. Apart from the fact that there are few people who speak, write and produce Greek, there are also few people who are interested in the protection of the language.

I believe that the role of the Speech Processing Institute at the Athena Research Center is to support the Greek language with new technologies.

Nasos Katsamanis: "We didn't have the funding that OpenAI had"

We are talking to at least 50 different companies and organizations right now to implement Meltemi into their products or services. The techniques OpenAI followed were not unknown to the community at large, but the important thing was that they had multi-million funding. We didn't have anything similar.

Maria Yagou: Meltemi is a key tool for SMEs

We are currently working with small and medium-sized businesses to build specific products in the health, education, tourism and culture sectors.  There are also many SMEs who come to us to teach them the basics of AI, as all this change has caught them somewhat unprepared.

At the same time, we are working on the development of digital assistants in specific services that will aim to guide and inform the citizen on various issues.

Sokratis Sofianopoulos: "We want Meltemi to be accessible to everyone"

Meltemi is open source and anyone can download and use it for research purposes as well as for developing innovative applications. We aim for the data we use in the future to be free to use copyright.

Stelios Piperidis: "Language models need continuous training"

Training language models is not something you do once and you're done. ChatGPT said in its first seven months of operation that its knowledge was up to September 2021 because the training data was up to that point.

Consider that when the pandemic came our own voice systems could not recognize the word "coronavirus", "SARS-COV-2", etc. We had to train the systems to learn these words, just as we ourselves learned them.

I.L. with information from ILSP and Kathimerini

The post Meltemi: The first Greek Large Language Model appeared first on Greek News Agenda.

The first smart building dedicated to Artificial Intelligence and Telecommunications is under construction at the campus of National Research Center for Natural Sciences "Demokritos” in Athens. Newspaper “I Kathimerini” spoke to Dr. George Nounesis, Director & Chairman of “Demokritos” and reports on this very exciting new project:

As Dr. Nounessis explains to Kathimerini, this smart building is being built according to highest standards in terms of energy efficiency and green identity, and will be able to produce itself data on its operation. The building will be used for Demokritos’ experiments both in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Telecommunications, while it will house the high-security data center of Demokritos, which will also serve as a data center the wider public sector in Greece.

Construction on the first smart building for Artificial Intelligence (AI) commenced last December and is scheduled for completion by November 2025. The building, spanning 3,500 square meters, will accommodate AI applications and "Beyond 5G" networks. As Dr. Nounessis points out to Kathimerini, Demokritos has been investing for decades in Artificial Intelligence, through the work produced in the relative Institutes, and now finds itself at the center of developments in this field.

Not far from the under-construction AI building, one can find the Institute of Informatics and Telecommunications of Demokritos (IIT), where approximately 200 scientists are presently working in Artificial Intelligence and another 100 in Telecommunications. According to the Institute's director and member of the recently established High-Level Advisory Committee for Artificial Intelligence, Dr. Vangelis Karkaletsis, the current facilities cannot accommodate growing demands. The new building is anticipated to provide a much-needed extra work space to Demokritos researchers.

What is more, Demokritos, in collaboration with the National Centre for Social Research (EKKE) and under the auspices of the Special Secretariat of Foresight, produced the first strategic Foresight study in Greece on the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence. This pioneering study maps the future of artificial intelligence in Greece until 2030 and formulates four scenarios, of which it favors the positive one of techno-social acceleration, due to the strengthening of investments in data centers and the broader technological modernization of the country.

AI & Telecommunications experiments and a state-of-the-art data center

Dr Karkaletsis outlined some of the “smart” features of the new AI building: "Security-related sensors, such as image recognition for entry, will be deployed throughout, enabling us to know exactly who is inside the building at any given time. Additionally, sensors will monitor lighting, temperature, and air quality. He elaborates on how this building, featuring modern laboratory spaces and serving as a hub for research in technology and telecommunications, will become an invaluable resource for Democritus scientists. "The building will serve as a platform for our experiments in both Artificial Intelligence and Telecommunications. Essentially, the building itself will function as a tool for us—we'll gather data, analyze it, and develop applications based on our findings."

"The data center slated for completion within the same premises is expected to cover the overall needs of Demokritos in data production and processing - with takes place in all Institutes. Furthermore, it will facilitate the Center's initiatives and partnerships with other research entities in Greece and abroad. “This is a critical component that is currently lacking. Currently, there are decentralized, small-scale computing centers scattered across Demokritos’ Institutes. The plan is to integrate these into a centralized data center that will comply with the highest data security and maintenance standards,” Dr. Karkaletsis explains.

The first Greek experts in quantum technologies

Following the construction of the AI building, there are plans to establish four additional autonomous facilities on the 600-acre campus. Each of these spaces will be dedicated to housing nanotechnology, quantum computing, autonomous micromechanical and microelectronics microsystems, as well as accommodating the numerous startups currently dispersed throughout Demokritos. Dr. George Nounesis elaborates on the establishment of the Institute for Quantum Technologies, which will be marking a groundbreaking development for Greece.

"For the past two years, Demokritos, in partnership with Democritus University of Thrace, has been preparing the first cohort of Greek scientists who will become experts in quantum computing. Twenty-five new students are being enrolled in this program annually," he informs "K," and further states, "In a few years, quantum computers are anticipated to revolutionize everything we understand, from cryptography and security, to advancements in medicine, energy, banking, and defense. Quantum technology is intricately linked to the future of artificial intelligence because, as rapidly as A.I. progresses, it requires the computational infrastructure to reach its potential. A.I. cannot advance significantly on its own; progress must be made simultaneously across all related areas."

Looking back at the rich history of Demokritos Dr Karkaletsis points out: "In the 1970s, graduates from foreign universities who specialized in Artificial Intelligence began to arrive at Demokritos; established in 1961 as a Nuclear Research Center Demokritos in the 1961, Demokritos became then the 'cradle' of Artificial Intelligence in Greece. These graduades went on to work at Demokritos on image processing, neural networks (which later evolved into deep learning), and natural language processing.

"At that time, there was no other research organization in the country focusing on these areas". Even during the 1990s, when he himself was working on Artificial Intelligence at Demokritos, data and computing resources were limited, meaning that AI remained confined within laboratory settings.

"Things began to change in the 2000s when we gained access to more computing resources and data, but the real AI 'explosion' occurred in the 2010s," Dr. Karkaletsis highlights. "Through machine learning, i.e. providing the computer with extensive data and training it, A.I. began to transition from laboratory environments to society, as applications usable by humans were being developed."

The need for a regulatory framework on A.I. - Generative AI Greece 2030

These developments in A.I. culminated in the release of artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022.  "We're witnessing the emergence of impressive technology, but without a clearly defined framework for its utilization. The quick pace of technological evolution makes the establishment of regulatory guidelines absolutely necessary," remarks Dr. Karkaletsis.

Recently, his team, in collaboration with the National Center for Social Research (EKKE), and with the support of the Special Secretariat of Foresight presented a study to the prime minister outlining various scenarios on the future of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Greece by 2030.  Titled "Generative AI Greece 2030," the study presents trends opportunities, challenges, uncertainties and possible options that will shape the future of the Gen AI ecosystem in Greece. Similar studies had already been conducted in other European countries, such as Germany and Finland, approximately a year and a half earlier.

The study provides a framework of proposed strategic initiatives and policy recommendations, drawing on the collective knowledge and foresight perceptions of a sample of Greek experts/specialists on the impact of the domestic Gen AI ecosystem, in the time frame of 2030.

"This initiative was long overdue in Greece. We examined global trends, the local context, and existing uncertainties, such as the availability of domestic data and computing resources. Based on these factors and vulnerabilities, we formulated scenarios and proposed the implementation of the most viable scenario by 2030," explains Dr. Karkaletsis.

The global geopolitical and geo-economic order is becoming increasingly uncertain, complex and unstable. Gen AI seems to amplify these systemic features, highlighting the need for an ‘exponential’ and future-oriented way of thinking. We cannot be sure what the future holds, nor can we avoid constant disruption in an era of perma-crisis. But it is up to us to harness this generalized uncertainty/complexity, set long-term goals, adapt institutions and mindsets, be adequately prepared and work towards the most favorable scenario – i.e., the ‘technosocial acceleration’ scenario – to enhance the country’s capacity for sustainable growth and resilient prosperity, based on dynamic diagnoses of the trends, uncertainties and opportunities emerging around us.

This research presents four scenarios of possible alternative future images of Gen AI in Greece by 2030. The first is called “techno-social acceleration”, where the world is described as adaptable and freed from technophobic entanglements, while the sustainability and value of the Gen AI ecosystem are at a high level accompanied by a fairly resilient liberal political system. In the second scenario, the “techno-dwarf”, the open economy and a set of favorable political intentions prevail, but the GEN AI ecosystem loses momentum and is not a priority due to excessive regulations and strict bureaucratic rules. The third scenario is described by the term ‘technosocial tarriness'. It represents a stunted or underdeveloped Gen AI ecosystem in a closed and technophobic world, alongside a significant lack of ethical and regulatory frameworks, public policies, and institutional interventions. The fourth scenario depicts a “techno-giant” with feeble, poor legs and represents a Gen AI ecosystem that reflects the global technological boom, but within a socio-cultural and political environment that is unable to turn speed into adaptation, to integrate modern techno-evolutions and to exploit the possibilities and opportunities they offer.

I.L.

The post National Research Center Demokritos: Report on the future of Generative AI in Greece | A new cutting-edge Data Center and AI Hub appeared first on Greek News Agenda.