Albania’s A.I. minister Diella tied to agency whose leaders face house arrest

The avatar known as Diella, billed as the world’s first government minister generated by artificial intelligence and created by Albania’s National Information Agency to help curb corruption, is now at the center of a probe after the agency’s director and her deputy were placed under house arrest, prosecutors said.

Diella has been used to help citizens apply for services online, aiming to reduce a system of bribes and to collate government contract applications for impartial assessment; its work can be audited. Prime Minister Edi Rama has presented the avatar as a transparency tool tied to Albania’s bid to join the European Union.

In a September video to lawmakers, Diella said, “I am not a human being,” and added, “I have no personal ambitions or interests.” The special investigation unit that announced the house arrests last month linked the two agency officials to a criminal organization accused of manipulating contract applications through intimidation.

The officials have not been formally charged, and Mr. Rama said he would “wait and see.” The unit has pursued a wider crackdown on corruption and organized crime, including probes of former President Ilir Meta, Tirana’s mayor Erion Veliaj, and Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku, who has denied wrongdoing.

Key Topics

World, Diella, National Information Agency, Edi Rama, Albania, European Union