Albania has appointed an artificial intelligence system to a cabinet role, in what Prime Minister Edi Rama described as a radical step to eliminate corruption from government tenders.
The AI-powered figure, named Diella, will oversee all public procurement procedures in an attempt to ensure transparency in the use of state funds. Rama announced the move during a Socialist Party assembly, according to the Guardian’s coverage of his remarks.
Move ends seven-year restriction
“Diella is the first cabinet member who isn’t physically present, but is virtually created by AI,” Rama told lawmakers.
He pledged that the new system will help make Albania “100% free of corruption” in government contracts, according to Reuters.
Rama said decision-making power over tenders will gradually be shifted from ministries to artificial intelligence. Diella will be tasked with assessing bids from private companies and determining winners of contracts to make “all public spending in the tender process 100% clear.”
From virtual assistant to digital minister
Diella had already been active as a digital assistant on the government’s e-Albania portal since January. On that platform, she guided citizens through nearly all administrative procedures, handling about 95% of citizen services, according to official figures cited in Albanian media.
So far, Diella has issued more than 36,600 digital documents and provided around 1,000 services through the portal. She appears as an avatar in traditional Albanian costume and responds through voice commands.
The new role elevates her from citizen services to what Rama described as “the servant of public procurement.”
Procurement scandals spur reform
Public tenders have been at the center of repeated graft scandals in Albania. Earlier this year, Tirana mayor Erion Veliaj and former president Illir Meta, now leader of the opposition Freedom Party, were charged with corruption, according to local reports.
In 2023, former environment minister Lefter Koka was sentenced to more than six years in prison for accepting a €3.7 million bribe linked to a construction project, AP News reported at the time.
Rama said that shifting tender decisions out of human hands was intended to prevent corruption scandals like these from recurring.
Albanian media described the appointment as
“a major transformation in the way the Albanian government conceives and exercises administrative power, introducing technology not only as a tool, but also as an active participant in governance.”
One of the first AI policymakers
The announcement makes Diella one of the first AI systems in the world to hold a formal decision-making role inside government. In 2023, Ukraine introduced an AI-generated spokesperson named Victoria Shi, though Albania’s experiment is among the first to give artificial intelligence authority over spending.
AI prioritized over crypto
Albania has quickly adopted AI in public services, while maintaining a cautious stance toward cryptocurrencies. The government passed a crypto regulatory framework in May 2020, one of Europe’s most detailed at the time. However, the Bank of Albania has continued to warn about the risks of trading crypto, slowing widespread adoption.
Path to the European Union
The anti-corruption push remains central to Albania’s goal of joining the European Union by 2030, a timeline Rama has previously highlighted. Albania has been an official EU candidate since 2014, but accession has been delayed in part because of entrenched corruption concerns.
Gunel Ismayilova
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