Creators of the world’s first AI minister accused of corruption

The avatar known as Diella, billed as the world’s first government minister to be generated by artificial intelligence, was supposed to help cut Albania’s endemic corruption.

But there’s a glitch. The leaders of the agency that built it stand accused of bid-rigging public contracts, The New York Times writes.

The director of Albania’s National Agency for Information Society (AKSHI) and his deputy have been placed under house arrest by the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. They are suspected of fraudulently securing and unfairly winning public contracts worth €7.4 million.

Wearing traditional garb and an enigmatic smile, Diella has become the face of Prime Minister Edi Rama’s efforts to rein in graft as Albania seeks to join the European Union.