Singapore is exploring whether the domain name system can be adapted to identify and verify AI agents across platforms, as part of an assessment of whether the country needs a national registry for them, Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Jasmin Lau told Parliament.
The domain name system, or DNS, is the internet directory that translates website names into machine-readable addresses. The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is working with GoDaddy, Infoblox, Cloudflare and Google on whether that infrastructure can be repurposed for agents, software that can carry out actions with minimal human supervision.
Lau was responding to an adjournment motion from MP Tin Pei Ling, who proposed a national digital identity infrastructure for AI agents. It would take the form of an open, trusted registry against which any party could check an agent’s identity and what it is authorized to do, similar to Singpass, the government’s digital identity service, but for agents.
Lau said the government supports the objectives behind the proposal and wants agents to operate securely across platforms without creating separate “walled gardens.” She did not commit to a registry. “Our approach is therefore to work with industry to find out what works in practice, build on existing infrastructure and emerging international standards, and step in with common standards or infrastructure where there are gaps that industry cannot fill on its own,” she said. “This will inform our assessment of whether additional common infrastructure, including a national registry, is needed.”
Confidence in agents, Lau said, depends on knowing who an agent is, what it is authorized to do and who is accountable for its actions. Work on those questions is already under way in government. The Government Technology Agency of Singapore is building an internal registry so public agencies can track the agents they deploy and the officers responsible for them. The Monetary Authority of Singapore is developing Safeguards for Agentic Finance at Runtime, a system designed to verify an agent’s identity and authority before a transaction executes and to keep auditable records.
Lau also cited private-sector efforts, including Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol, which is meant to help merchants tell legitimate agents from malicious bots, and Google’s Agent Payments Protocol for payments initiated by agents.
She noted that countries including China, the US and Estonia are also exploring trusted identities for agents. Companies in Japan and South Korea have separately planned cross-border agent identity trials. Singapore, which chairs ASEAN in 2027, intends to strengthen regional capabilities in AI governance, testing and assurance.
“Agents can act for us, but they cannot answer for us,” Lau said. “Our task is to make sure that behind every agent, there is always someone who does.”
Sources: The Straits Times, AsiaOne
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
