TIRANA, Albania — Prime Minister Edi Rama announced Friday that his new cabinet will include an artificial intelligence "minister" tasked with running public funding projects and combating corruption in public tenders.
Rama said the AI, named Diella — Albanian for "Sun" — will be "a member of the Cabinet who is not present physically but has been created virtually from artificial intelligence." He said Diella would help ensure that "public tenders will be 100% free of corruption." Diella was launched earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the e-Albania public service platform, where she helps users navigate the site while appearing in traditional Albanian folk costume.
Rama’s Socialist Party won a fourth consecutive term in May, taking 83 of the 140 seats in the Assembly. The party can govern alone and pass most legislation but falls short of the two-thirds majority, or 93 seats, required to amend the constitution. The Socialists have pledged to deliver European Union membership for Albania in five years, with negotiations they say could conclude by 2027; opposition parties have expressed skepticism about that timeline.
The conservative Democratic Party-led coalition, headed by former prime minister and President Sali Berisha, won 50 seats and has not accepted the official election results, alleging irregularities. Despite those claims, Democratic members participated Friday in the inaugural session of the new parliament, where lawmakers began the process of being sworn in. Later in the day they were expected to elect a speaker and deputies and formally receive Rama’s proposed cabinet.
Legal experts and analysts cautioned that more work may be needed to establish the official status and responsibilities of an AI entity within a constitutional government. Questions remain about legal accountability, oversight, procurement rules and how a virtual assistant would interact with existing institutions that manage public contracts and tenders.
Corruption has been a persistent issue in Albania since the fall of the communist regime in 1990, shaping public debate and reform efforts for decades. Successive governments have pledged to address graft, and the use of digital tools and platforms has been presented by officials as one path to greater transparency and efficiency in public administration.
Diella’s integration into the cabinet reflects a broader global conversation about the role of artificial intelligence in governance and public services. Rama framed the move as an innovation that would professionalize project management and reduce opportunities for corruption in public procurement.
How the AI will be embedded in decision-making processes, what legal personality (if any) it will have, and which human officials will retain ultimate authority over contracts and expenditures were not detailed in Rama’s announcement. Officials in Rama’s administration said the AI minister would operate through the e-Albania platform and would be part of the streamlining of public services, but offered limited specifics on implementation timelines and oversight mechanisms.
Opposition figures and some legal commentators said the announcement raises concerns about transparency and the need for clear rules before assigning responsibility for public funds to automated systems. They urged that any deployment of AI in procurement be accompanied by legislative safeguards, independent audits and public reporting to ensure accountability.
Parliamentary action on formalizing the new cabinet, including the AI role, was expected to continue through the day as lawmakers elected leadership and reviewed Rama’s ministerial proposals. The government’s assertion that technology can help stamp out corruption will face scrutiny both domestically and from international partners monitoring Albania’s reform efforts and EU accession progress.