Estonia Wants to Give AI Agents Their Own National ID

Estonia wants to give public information its own ID. Premier Kristen Michal said Wednesday she agreed Eesti.ai The advisory council will provide an identity for AI agents – a digital identity unique to the person, company, or organization that the agent works for.

Michal proposed it as a solution to an existing problem: an agent who makes airline reservations, files taxes, or changes a document these days often has to borrow the owner’s full identity to do so. Estonia, he said, could be “the first country to create a digital identity for AI agents.”

Michal sees this move as preparation for the agency’s imminent future. “In the future, artificial intelligence will do digital things on behalf of a person, company, or organization: write reports, prepare announcements, or communicate information,” Michal wrote on X.

“But it should be known who is taking action, on behalf of whom, with what rights, and who is responsible,” he said.

Michal says it’s important to give AI agents “limited, controlled and measurable permissions,” rather than relying on agents with access to all personal information to have a working assistant.

The council’s proposal would allow the agent’s identity to specify exactly what he is allowed to do—Michal listed activities such as viewing history, writing a document, paying up to a fixed amount—instead of receiving whatever inheritance the owner can reach.

That distinction is important because of those who are already sending sponsors. Eesti.ai, an international AI program Michal launched in January, has installed AI chatbots in schools and run The organizationa service that the government describes as “”a government-developed, AI-powered digital assistant that helps organizations deliver modern and relevant customer service.”

These agents are already working within the government system, which is the same type of the new ID should be reduced.

First things… again

Estonia has been developing digital plumbing for twenty years and this idea would continue. After a major cyber attack in 2007, the government and the Estonian company Guardtime built it KSI blockchaina signatureless system that has protected the integrity of legal documents and assets since 2012, later expanding health care.

This world began long before this one, too. Estonia’s parliament declared internet access a universal service in 2000, years before most governments recognized blogging as a freedom. In 2023Its parliamentary elections became the first in the world where more votes were cast online than on paper.

By December 2024, Estonia had moved 100% of government jobs online, which is also important for the proper integration of AI in public administration. This history is why Michal thinks that Estonia can move first on the ID of the agent and not just talk about it.

Time goes hand in hand with great tension in the response of agents. In March, Sam Altman of the blockchain network World rolled out a toolkit for licensing agents to convince someone it stops behind them before the pages give access, checking platforms tired of thinking whether the request is from a person or a bot.

Decrypt has also described what happens without this structure. An unsupervised agent ran a $6,531 AWS bill less than a day last month the owner told them to check the hobbyist’s website without further review, then asked the community to donate crypto to prevent damage.

If countries provide a system of what providers can do and how, it will be difficult for these models to interfere with the interests of users and everyone involved (providers, users, service providers, the man in the middle, etc.) will know their responsibilities, limits, and legal protection.

Michal did not give a start date and did not elaborate on how the position would work if the agent’s mistake costs money.