Estonia plans to give AI agents official digital identities, allowing limited and controlled access to data and services instead of requiring full rights grants.

What happened: Estonia's Prime Minister Kristen Michal announced that the country will become the first in the world to create digital identities for AI agents. The Eesti.ai advisory board approved the proposal at its second meeting to move forward with these 'AI ID codes,' which will specify what powers an agent can exercise on behalf of a person or company.

Why it matters: Today, individuals and organizations often must grant AI assistants access to all their rights, services, and data at once. With digital identities, it will be possible to limit an agent to specific tasks—viewing data only, preparing a document, executing a payment, or operating within a financial cap—making clear who is acting on whose behalf and who bears responsibility.

What to watch: Michal framed this as part of Estonia's broader digital-state infrastructure, which includes digital identities, X-Road (a data-exchange system), and digital signatures. The aim is to let AI carry out digital work on behalf of citizens while maintaining accountability and control.