he Linux Foundation announced plans to launch the Agent Name Service (ANS), a proposed open standard that uses the existing Domain Name System (DNS) to provide identity, verification, and discovery capabilities for AI agents. The initiative aims to establish a common trust framework for autonomous software agents operating across the internet without relying on proprietary registries or centralized control mechanisms.
ANS extends DNS infrastructure to create a verifiable identity layer for AI agents, allowing organizations and users to validate an agent’s ownership, permissions, software integrity, and operational history. Rather than introducing a new naming or lookup system, the framework leverages the same distributed infrastructure that underpins internet navigation today. The proposal also supports integration with decentralized identifiers (DIDs) and Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs), enabling enterprises to connect existing identity systems into a unified model for agent verification.
The Linux Foundation said the project is seeking participation from enterprises, AI developers, infrastructure providers, and security researchers as it develops the specification. Early supporters include Cloudflare, Cisco, Salesforce, Infoblox, and Hashgraph Online. Technical repositories and community resources will be available through the project’s GitHub organization.
• Agent Name Service (ANS) proposes DNS-based identity and discovery for AI agents.
• Uses existing internet infrastructure rather than creating a separate naming system.
• Supports integration with DIDs and Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs).
• Focuses on agent verification, trust, permissions management, and interoperability.
• Operates under Linux Foundation governance as an open standard initiative.
• Seeks participation from AI developers, enterprises, infrastructure providers, and security researchers.
• Early supporters include Cloudflare, Cisco, Salesforce, Infoblox, and Hashgraph Online.
Srini Tallapragada, President and Chief Engineering & Customer Success Officer at Salesforce, said: “Identity is imperative to enable AI agents to operate across the open web. ANS defines a common standard for identity and verification, so developers can move faster with trust, interoperability, and security built in from the start.”
🌐 Analysis
Much of today’s AI agent activity remains confined to vendor-specific environments, creating challenges around trust, authentication, provenance, and governance when agents interact across domains. By anchoring identity in DNS, ANS attempts to leverage a globally deployed infrastructure rather than introducing a new overlay network.