A new company called Known Systems AI has emerged from Identity Digital Inc. to tackle a key issue in AI development: ensuring autonomous agents remain answerable to their creators as they operate across multiple platforms.
The project originated within Identity Digital’s Innovation Labs, which introduced earlier this year an open neural framework named DNSid. Positioned as a “birth certificate” for AI agents, DNSid integrates the Domain Name System, public key infrastructure, and an unchangeable blockchain ledger to assign lasting identities to AI. These identities stay connected to the original creator, maintaining accountability even when the agent interacts with external systems.
AI agents now handle financial operations, data transfers, and cross-organizational tasks with minimal human intervention. Current identity and access management solutions can verify agents and limit their actions within defined environments, but they fail to establish responsibility when agents operate beyond those boundaries.
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Building trust between AI agents and third parties at scale presents significant challenges. Many organizations deploy thousands of agents, making individual trust agreements impractical. Known Systems AI seeks to resolve this by establishing a shared accountability framework that operates across platforms and industries.
As a standalone entity, Known will promote DNSid as an open standard while developing tools to help businesses scale accountability. The company has already submitted an Internet-Draft to the Internet Engineering Task Force and is partnering with the Linux Foundation through the Agentic AI Foundation and LF Decentralized Trust. It also reports enterprise adoption and connections to U.S. policymakers.
Identity Digital’s CEO, Akram Atallah, justified the spin-off. “We reached a point where keeping this work inside Identity Digital would limit its potential,” he explained. “Agent accountability needs to work across companies, platforms and ecosystems. Known now has the independence [it needs] to work across the market and build the broad participation required for shared infrastructure to succeed.” The company will retain close ties with Known.
Identity Digital will continue as a major investor and retain a board position. Ethos Capital, the primary owner of Identity Digital, will also back Known. Allie Kline, a partner at Ethos, will serve as interim CEO while the company searches for a permanent leader.
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The separation aligns with a broader industry shift: AI agents cannot expand without clear accountability systems. As these agents conduct transactions, exchange data, and operate across boundaries, a unified method for assigning responsibility is critical for trust. Without it, widespread adoption risks stagnation.
This model parallels earlier efforts to standardize digital identity, such as the creation of SSL certificates for secure web communications. Just as those certificates became a universal trust layer, DNSid could found AI accountability—though its adoption will require buy-in from both industry leaders and regulators.
Known’s immediate priority is demonstrating that DNSid can function as a practical, scalable solution. Its existing ties to Identity Digital and early policy engagement suggest strong backing, but real-world implementation will determine whether the framework can surpass makeshift trust models.