Tech Desk 
Sep 15, 2025
A historic step has been taken by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama by designating Diella, an artificial intelligence system, to supervise anti-corruption initiatives in the nation's public tenders.
Diella, which means "sun" in Albanian, is an online organisation created to guarantee accountability and openness in public contracting.
Albania, a Balkan nation with a population of 2.8 million, has long battled corruption in public contract awarding, which has hampered its attempts to join the EU.
Addressing corruption is a crucial requirement for Rama's government's commitment to wrap up EU accession talks by 2027.
The Democratic parliamentary group leader, Gazmend Bardhi, has called the action unconstitutional, but the opposition has criticised it.
"It is impossible to transform the Prime Minister's foolishness into legitimate actions of the Albanian government," Bardhi posted on Facebook.
Diella was introduced earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the e-Albania public service platform.
Since then, it has proven its abilities by assisting with the issuance of 36,600 digital documents and offering almost 1,000 services.
The public has responded to Diella's launch in a variety of ways, despite its potential.
Some have expressed doubts about the ability of an AI system to effectively fight corruption.
One comment said, "Even Diella will be corrupted in Albania," while another said, "Diella will be blamed."
The degree of human oversight for Diella and the government's plans to handle worries about possible AI system manipulation have not yet been made clear by Rama.
The validity of the appointment is still up in the air as well; legal experts believe more work is required to formally recognise Diella.
