Dorita Yiannakou
An Amazon team is heading to Cyprus next week to explore a pilot program for satellite internet, part of a wave of interest from some of the world’s biggest tech companies.
The news came during a press briefing Friday, where Deputy Ministers Irene Pikki and Nikodimos Damianou shared early results from President Nikos Christodoulides’ April 2025 investment trip to the U.S. The president, along with ministers and investment officials, visited New York, San Francisco, and Houston to pitch Cyprus as a hub for shipping, technology, and energy.
According to Kathimerini's Dorita Yiannakou, during the U.S. trip, the delegation held 13 one-on-one meetings and two roundtables with tech giants including Amazon, Google, Nvidia, OpenAI, Tenstorrent, and Plug and Play.
Deputy Minister Pikki highlighted Nvidia’s plan to bring a supercomputer to Cyprus, expected to go live in June 2026. The machine will boost national computing power for research and help during emergencies, like natural disasters.
Damianou noted the ongoing “Cloud First” competition, which will select a strategic partner for Cyprus’ new government cloud platform, “g-cloud,” with results expected by month’s end.
Chief Scientist Dimitris Skourides said other tech companies are also eyeing Cyprus for research and innovation projects. Tenstorrent has already opened an office in Limassol and plans to hire 15 people by 2027.
Education technology is also on the radar. Google is rolling out its Experience AI program in local schools, and OpenAI is in talks to pilot its ChatGPT-5 Education program with 5,000 technical school students, at a cost of about €500,000.
The local startup scene is getting a boost too. Pikki highlighted Plug and Play’s innovation accelerator, which will run a three-year program in 2026 to support 60 new startups and connect them with potential investors.
Looking ahead, the government plans more investment-promotion trips later this year to the U.S., as well as to India and the United Arab Emirates.
