Albania has become the first country to appoint an artificial intelligence-generated ‘minister’ into its government Cabinet.

Prime Minister Edi Rama said Diella will be a “member of the Cabinet who is not present physically but has been created virtually,” according to the Associated Press.

Rama introduced Diella, whose name means “Sun” in Albanian, to party members on Thursday.

“Albania has appointed Diella, an AI-powered virtual minister, to oversee public procurement and eliminate corruption from government tenders. Prime Minister Edi Rama announced the move at his Socialist Party conference, calling Diella the first digital cabinet member,” Mario Nawfal wrote.

“Already familiar to Albanians through the e-Albania platform, she will now review and decide on all state contracts. The goal: ensure tenders are 100% transparent, ending decades of graft scandals,” he added.

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Rama said the AI-generated bot would help ensure that “public tenders will be 100% free of corruption” and will help the government work faster and with full transparency.

Diella uses AI’s up-to-date models and techniques to guarantee accuracy in offering the duties it is charged with, according to Albania’s National Agency for Information Society’s website.

Diella, depicted as a figure in a traditional Albanian folk costume, was created earlier this year, in cooperation with Microsoft, as a virtual assistant on the e-Albania public service platform, where she has helped users navigate the site and get access to about 1 million digital inquiries and documents.

Rama’s Socialist Party secured a fourth consecutive term after winning 83 of the 140 Assembly seats in the May 11 parliamentary elections. The party can govern alone and pass most legislation, but it needs a two-thirds majority, or 93 seats, to change the Constitution.

According to POLITICO, Rama said Albania will be a country where public tenders are “100 percent incorruptible and where every public fund that goes through the tender procedure is 100 percent legible.”

He said it’s Diella’s “duty.”

POLITICO noted:

Diella will evaluate tenders and have the right to “hire talents here from all over the world,” while breaking down “the fear of prejudice and rigidity of the administration.”

Albania has long battled with corruption, particularly in public administration and in the area of public procurement. The matter has been repeatedly highlighted by the European Union in its annual rule of law reports.

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Rama swept to a historic fourth mandate in May 2025, on a ticket of joining the bloc by 2030.

 

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