Greece’s National Cyber Security Authority has warned that the country is facing mounting digital threats at a time when global cyber tensions between East and West are intensifying. Speaking to Euronews Next, Michael Bletsas, who heads the authority, said Greece occupies a vulnerable position at Europe’s southeastern frontier and must manage risks that many of its European partners underestimate.

“Athens has an additional aggressive neighbour, which our European partners do not perceive as hostile,” Bletsas said, noting that Greece’s challenges differ sharply from those confronting northern European states.

Positioned at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Greece has become a frontline state in the expanding arena of cyber conflict. Bletsas said that while countries around the Baltic Sea face incidents that resemble hybrid warfare — including attacks on critical infrastructure — Greece so far has not experienced sabotage of that kind. Instead, it is grappling with a surge in digital criminal activity.

“What is most visible right now is cybercrime. We have too much activism, cyberactivism, vandalism and denial-of-service attacks,” he said. These incidents, he added, typically do not leave lasting damage and can be resolved quickly, but their frequency is increasing.

The rise in cybercrime, he noted, is being accelerated by artificial intelligence, which is giving criminal networks new tools and capabilities. “We are seeing a big increase in attacks, and of course, we have a lot of espionage,” he said, describing a landscape where hostile actors exploit Greece’s strategic location and digital vulnerabilities.

Bletsas also cautioned that Greece cannot claim neutrality in the geopolitical struggle playing out in cyberspace. “We have lost it here and too much,” he said, pointing out that Athens must manage threats from an assertive neighbour to the east—threats he believes other European governments do not always acknowledge or fully assess.

He stressed that cyber defence must be treated with the same seriousness as physical security. “Separating the physical from the digital world is one and the same. The nervous system is more extensive than what we have in the real world. We should think of security in the same terms,” he said.

As cyberattacks grow more sophisticated and more frequent, Greece finds itself on the front line of a conflict unfolding largely out of public view. Digital warfare, Bletsas warned, is not a distant threat but an active battle. For Greece, the challenge now is to determine the alliances, strategy and preparedness needed to withstand an evolving and increasingly complex cyber landscape.

Google’s AI chatbot Gemini has become the company’s most-searched topic of the year, topping its annual “Year in Search” report and drawing worldwide interest following the launch of its newest model, Gemini 3.

The tech giant released its list of global search trends for 2025, highlighting terms that saw a sharp and sustained rise in traffic compared with the previous year. Leading that list was “Gemini,” outpacing major global events and prominent public figures, including “India vs England” in men’s cricket and “Charlie Kirk,” the American commentator killed in September.

Search activity tied to Gemini rose noticeably in September after Google unveiled a series of AI-focused upgrades across Chrome, Search, Android and other core products. That surge continued through autumn as attention swung toward the debut of Gemini 3, the latest version of the company’s advanced AI system built on Alphabet’s in-house chips.

Gemini 3 quickly drew an array of high-profile endorsements. OpenAI chief Sam Altman praised its abilities, while Nvidia highlighted its performance gains. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff went so far as to say he planned to stop using ChatGPT after testing Gemini, describing its improvement in speed, reasoning, and multimedia output as transformative.

Among the major changes, Google added Gemini 3 directly into its search engine through an “AI mode,” allowing responses powered by the model to appear natively in results. It also introduced new automated coding tools and a platform called Google Antigravity to support agent-based development.

According to Google, Gemini 3 can work with far fewer prompts than earlier versions and is designed to handle complex ideas with stronger logic and broader multimodal abilities. Independent evaluations appear to validate that claim. The model scored highest on the Humanity’s Last Exam benchmark, surpassing OpenAI’s GPT-5 Pro, and ranked first on several tests measuring reasoning strength and short-form factual accuracy.

The launch has sparked significant tension across the AI landscape, placing new pressure on OpenAI, which has dominated the market for two years with ChatGPT. The company is already facing criticism surrounding GPT-5’s tone, along with legal challenges from families who allege the chatbot played a role in relatives’ deaths.

Reports this week said Altman told staff on December 1 that OpenAI had issued a “code red,” shifting resources toward improving ChatGPT’s quality and slowing other planned products, including advertising features, AI agents and a personal assistant tool.

Google, meanwhile, is positioning Gemini 3 as its most capable system to date, backed by strong early adoption and a surge in global user interest that has placed it at the center of the year’s technology conversation.

Artificial intelligence is becoming a routine part of daily life, yet its integration into Europe’s classrooms remains uneven. A new international survey highlights wide disparities in how teachers use AI, as governments and education experts debate how the technology should be applied in schools.

The OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), covering 32 countries, shows that AI use among lower secondary school teachers ranged from just 14 percent in France to 52 percent in Albania in 2024. The average across EU member states surveyed stands at 32 percent, while the wider OECD average is 36 percent.

The survey defines AI use as employing tools that generate text, predict outcomes or assist with decision-making, whether in teaching tasks or for supporting student learning. Western European countries generally show lower adoption, while teachers in the Western Balkans and parts of Eastern Europe report higher engagement.

Eight countries reported usage rates of 40 percent or above, including Malta, Czechia, Romania, Poland, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Norway and the Flemish region of Belgium. On the opposite end, Bulgaria, Hungary, the French-speaking region of Belgium, Turkey, Italy, Finland, Montenegro and Slovakia recorded the lowest levels of adoption.

Experts say the gap cannot be traced to one factor. UNESCO told Euronews Next that national AI policies vary widely, shaping how quickly schools adopt new tools. Countries with proactive AI strategies—including those providing structured training—have seen more rapid uptake, while others have approached generative AI in classrooms with caution.

OECD senior project manager Ruochen Li said infrastructure, policies, cultural attitudes toward technology and the extent of teacher training all contribute to the divide. “We see a strong relationship at the country level between the amount of training offered and the use of AI,” he said.

Education specialists at European Schoolnet added that AI adoption reflects each nation’s policy and support systems. They noted that training and reliable digital infrastructure are essential accelerators, a trend reinforced by the TALIS data. France’s nationwide AI training rollout in public schools began only after the survey period, indicating its usage rates may rise in coming years.

Among teachers using AI, most rely on the technology for preparation rather than direct classroom instruction. Across EU countries, 65 percent of users said they turn to AI to study and summarise topics efficiently, while 64 percent use it to generate lesson plans or activities. Experts note that administrative assistance provided by AI could help reduce time pressures on educators.

Looking ahead, specialists expect AI to play a growing role in classrooms. Some anticipate more student-facing tools, such as personalised learning activities or real-time feedback systems. Yet they stress that teachers must remain central to decision-making to preserve ethical oversight and maintain human guidance.

UNESCO said AI should support educators rather than replace them and must align with privacy protections and educational objectives. Teacher unions have also warned that as AI adoption accelerates, it should not contribute to de-skilling within the profession, particularly amid widespread teacher shortages.

Experts note that while the TALIS survey offers a snapshot of adoption, it does not indicate how frequently teachers use AI—whether it is a routine tool or something they have only tested. As debate continues, policymakers are working to balance innovation with responsibility in Europe’s evolving educational landscape.