Vint Cerf, one of the architects of TCP/IP, has joined Innovation Labs as an adviser to help develop a standard for identifying AI agents operating across the open internet. The announcement came in July 2026, the same week Cerf departed Google after 20 years.
Innovation Labs is a subsidiary of Identity Digital, a DNS registry company. The organization has proposed DNSid, a registry system that links each AI agent to an existing internet domain name and uses cryptographic proofs to log its registration over time. The company says it is currently trialing the standard with several unnamed hyperscalers and identity companies. Cerf joins other internet figures who are lending their names to the effort.
The initiative addresses a gap that is emerging as businesses move beyond AI agents confined to proprietary systems. Companies are already planning for agents that operate autonomously across the internet and interact directly with other agents — but no shared standard currently exists for identifying or auditing them.
“I felt like I might be able to help them in a period of time when naming and identification is becoming increasingly important,” Cerf told TechCrunch. He pointed to unresolved questions around what authorities agents hold, who granted those authorities, and who is accountable for an agent’s behavior.
Cerf drew a parallel to the adoption of TCP/IP, suggesting that user pressure — rather than top-down mandates — may ultimately determine which identification protocol wins out. “Nobody can do everything that you might want every agent to do,” he said, noting the risk of fragmentation if competing agent technologies fail to interoperate.
Innovation Labs CEO Allie Kline emphasized that the company does not plan to conduct other AI business or retain ownership of registration data — a point she framed as important for avoiding resistance from the broader industry.
As for whether an agentic internet is inevitable, Cerf was measured. “I don’t think it’s inevitable,” he said. “But what I do think is inevitable is that people will try to do that.”
Source: TechCrunch