Japan’s GMO GlobalSign Holdings and VESS Labs have tested a system that lets AI agents developed by different companies verify each other’s identities and transaction authority using digitally signed credentials. The proof of concept connected a buying agent built by GMO GlobalSign Holdings with a selling agent built by VESS Labs, then took a purchase through approval, ordering and a simulated payment.
The agents used verifiable credentials, or VCs, to check which organization operated the counterparty and what that agent had been authorized to do. A VC carries information signed by an issuer, allowing a recipient to check its origin and whether it has been altered. In the test, the companies also linked a person’s approval to the order so the transaction could be traced back to the authority granted to the agent.
The companies developed their agents independently and connected them using a common verification mechanism. They say the design avoids having to register every possible trading partner on a bilateral allowlist before the agents interact. The test did not conduct an actual commercial purchase or payment; the payment step ran in a simulated environment.
GMO GlobalSign Holdings and VESS Labs say they completed 281 automated cases successfully as of late August. Those cases included attempts to reuse authentication data, present a revoked credential and change approved purchase details.
The project focuses on two separate questions: whether an AI agent is genuinely associated with the business it claims to represent, and whether it has permission to take the proposed action. Identity alone would not establish that an agent can place an order or spend funds on an organization’s behalf. Human purchase approval remained part of this demonstration.
Other identity vendors have been developing controls for autonomous software. Omada’s acquisition of EmpowerID targets the permissions AI agents use during operation, while Proof and Superfluid have tested linking agent-wallet transactions to verified people. The GMO GlobalSign and VESS Labs work concentrates on credentials that one company’s agent can present to another company’s agent at the point of a transaction.
The firms have published a joint research report describing the test. They say the next areas they plan to examine include open standards for agent-to-agent trade and conditions under which an agent could act without a separate human approval for each purchase.
Sources: GMO GlobalSign Holdings
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
