Vint Cerf, one of the architects of the internet’s core protocols, is taking on a new challenge: giving AI agents verifiable identities. Just weeks after leaving Google, Cerf is advising Innovation Labs, a subsidiary of domain registry company Identity Digital.
The group is developing DNSid, a proposed standard that links each AI agent to an existing internet domain name using cryptographic proofs. The goal is an accountability layer for agents that operate autonomously across the open internet.
“I felt like I might be able to help them in a period of time when naming and identification is becoming increasingly important,” Cerf told TechCrunch. “This is largely triggered by the notion of AI agents and the question of what authorities they have, where they have derived those authorities, who is accountable for their behavior.”
Most AI agents today operate inside proprietary systems. But businesses envision a future where agents negotiate, transact, and collaborate across organizational boundaries — requiring a shared trust framework. Innovation Labs is trialing DNSid with several unnamed hyperscalers and identity companies.
