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Albania’s government AI-powered virtual assistant, which helps citizens obtain everything from driver’s licenses to pension applications and court filings, has just become one of the world’s first AI politicians.&nbsp;
“Diella is the first cabinet member who isn’t physically present, but is virtually created by AI,” and jas been tasked with keeping Albania “100% free of corruption,” Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/albania-appoints-ai-bot-minister-tackle-corruption-2025-09-11/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">reportedly</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRaZ_Y1_AG0" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">said</a> in a National Assembly of the Socialist Party on Thursday.
Its task will be to oversee all government procurement of goods and services from the private sector, which has led to a series of corruption scandals in Albania in recent decades.
Reports state that Diella, which means “sun” in Albanian, had been serving as an AI-powered virtual assistant on the e-Albania platform, helping citizens and businesses obtain various state documents through voice commands and issuing documents with electronic stamps to reduce bureaucratic delays.
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 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-09/01993b4b-d398-7852-ab2c-a73d60c5ed80" title="" alt="Albania’s AI virtual assistant Diella just got promoted to ‘minister’">
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 Rama was speaking at the National Assembly of the Socialist Party on Thursday. Source: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRaZ_Y1_AG0" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRaZ_Y1_AG0">Edi Rama</a>
 </figcaption>
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 Diella has reportedly <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250911-albania-appoints-ai-generated-minister-to-avoid-corruption" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">helped</a> issue more than 36,600 digital documents and provided nearly 1,000 services through the platform.
Rama, however, didn’t provide much detail on who would be accountable for mistakes made by Diella, what human oversight would exist, or how risks of the AI being manipulated would be handled.
<h2 id="ai-bots-are-making-their-way-through-governments">AI bots are making their way through governments</h2>
It marks one of the first major government roles held by an AI bot in history. Last May, Ukraine <a href="https://x.com/MFA_Ukraine/status/1785558101908742526" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">unveiled</a> “Victoria Shi,” an AI-generated spokesperson providing updates on matters of foreign affairs.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
 👋 Meet Victoria Shi — a digital representative of the MFA of Ukraine, created using AI to provide timely updates on consular affairs! For the first time in history, the MFA of Ukraine has presented a digital persona that will officially comment for the media. <a href="https://t.co/KTtuCVR1ku" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">pic.twitter.com/KTtuCVR1ku</a>— MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) <a href="https://twitter.com/MFA_Ukraine/status/1785558101908742526?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">May 1, 2024</a>
</blockquote>
<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bulgaria-bitcoin-sale-could-have-erased-national-debt" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Albania</a> appears to have embraced AI more than crypto in recent years. While establishing a <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/albania-approves-europes-most-comprehensive-crypto-law-yet" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">crypto regulatory framework</a> in May 2020 — one of the most comprehensive pieces of crypto legislation in Europe at the time — the Bank of Albania has continued to issue warnings regarding the risks associated with trading crypto, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-second-in-crypto-adoption-india-leads-all-chainalysis" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">slowing adoption.</a>
<h2 id="albania-plagued-by-corruption-for-decades">Albania plagued by corruption for decades</h2>
While Albania remains a peaceful country, it has long been a hot spot for <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/explained/how-a-123m-crypto-scam-in-australia-laundered-millions-through-a-legit-business" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">organized crime,</a> with some officials having been accused of benefiting from contracts.&nbsp;
Earlier this year, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Erion+Veliaj+charged&amp;sca_esv=dd1bb8bd48a3d6f2&amp;sxsrf=AE3TifMZ6MmmRJ4UVX0CKw0Pk3j1cQv-kA%3A1757636047908&amp;source=hp&amp;ei=z2XDaM7nNaiO4-EPs_DC-QI&amp;iflsig=AOw8s4IAAAAAaMNz3-wCdEzF4Inmf8QdMiceosSgMMYo&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiOi53C-NGPAxUoxzgGHTO4MC8Q4dUDCBk&amp;uact=5&amp;oq=Erion+Veliaj+charged&amp;gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IhRFcmlvbiBWZWxpYWogY2hhcmdlZDIIEAAYCBgNGB4yCBAAGIAEGKIEMggQABiABBiiBDIIEAAYogQYiQUyCBAAGIAEGKIESPUVUABYpxVwAHgAkAEAmAGBAqABjA2qAQUwLjMuNbgBA8gBAPgBAvgBAZgCCKACug3CAgUQABiABMICBRAuGIAEwgIHEAAYgAQYE8ICCBAAGBMYFhgewgIKEAAYExgWGAoYHsICBhAAGBYYHsICBRAAGO8FmAMAkgcFMC4zLjWgB8wnsgcFMC4zLjW4B7oNwgcHMC4xLjYuMcgHIw&amp;sclient=gws-wiz" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Erion</a> Veliaj, the mayor of Tirana, and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/albania-corruption-former-president-ilir-meta-charged-8fb2c1d9ab32d9983c2114d6426bb227" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Illir</a> Meta, Albania’s former president and leader of the opposition Freedom Party, were charged with corruption.
In 2023, Lefter Koka, the country’s former environmental minister, was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/albania-exminister-corruption-officials-incenerator-e8dc8a1a1e8da470606472965a1d92ab" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">sentenced</a> to over six years in prison for accepting a 3.7 million euro ($4.34 million) bribe linked to a construction project.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/eliza-labs-sues-elon-musk-xai" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Agentic AI project Eliza Labs sues Elon Musk's xAI</a>
Corruption has held Albania back from becoming a member of the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/markets-in-crypto-assets-regulation-mica" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">European Union</a> since it became a candidate country in 2014.&nbsp;
Rama, however, is hopeful that his country will receive membership by 2030.&nbsp;
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/taking-acid-chatgpt-fake-band-art-hoax-hits-500k-streams-ai-eye/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Growing numbers of users are taking LSD with ChatGPT: AI Eye</a>

Albania’s AI virtual assistant Diella just got promoted to ‘minister’

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