An AI system launched in January 2025 as the e-Albania virtual assistant. In September 2025 the government presented it as a 'virtual minister' for public procurement; its legal status is disputed and the Constitutional Court did not rule on its merits.
Diella ('Sun') was introduced on 19 January 2025 by the National Agency for Information Society (AKSHI), using Microsoft Azure OpenAI technology. After the May 2025 elections, Prime Minister Edi Rama presented Diella in September as a cabinet 'minister' to make public tenders free of corruption. Presidential decrees of 12 and 15 September 2025 made the Prime Minister responsible for the 'establishment and functioning' of the virtual minister. On 8 October 2026 the Constitutional Court dismissed a challenge by 39 opposition MPs on competence grounds, adding that AI cannot create, expand, transfer or replace public powers or accountability. As of August 2026 the procurement system was still being built.
Diella works as a portal assistant; in August 2026 its procurement role was still preparatory. The government still calls it a minister, while the Court's notice says the decrees do not appoint a constitutional office-holder.
Diella went live on e-Albania on 19 January 2025 as an AKSHI voice-and-avatar assistant built on Microsoft Azure OpenAI models; the government now lists it as 'Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence'.[1][2][3]
The decrees did not list Diella as a person in the cabinet but assigned the Prime Minister responsibility for her 'establishment and functioning'; critics argue the constitution presupposes ministers are natural persons.[1][2]
On 8 October 2026 the Constitutional Court dismissed, by majority, a request by 39 deputies, finding it could not examine the case on any of the three grounds raised; it stated that AI cannot create, expand, transfer or replace public powers, responsibility or accountability.[1][2]
As of August 2026 the Public Procurement Agency said its AI procurement system was still being developed; a 2024 amendment allows AI in procurement, but a general AI law and strategy were not adopted.[1]