TLDR: The Trust over IP Foundation (ToIP) and the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) have jointly launched three new working groups to address the critical need for digital trust frameworks in the rapidly evolving field of AI agents. These groups will focus on decentralized trust graphs, AI and human trust, and trusted AI agents, aiming to develop specifications and governance patterns for secure and accountable AI ecosystems.
In a significant move to ensure the responsible development and deployment of artificial intelligence, the Trust over IP Foundation (ToIP), a project of LF Decentralized Trust (LFDT), and the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) have announced the formation of three new working groups. These groups are specifically designed to tackle the complex challenges of establishing digital trust for agentic AI, a timely initiative as AI technologies continue to accelerate.
The newly established working groups include:
1. The Joint ToIP/DIF Decentralized Trust Graph Working Group: This group is tasked with standardizing a novel approach to proving personhood—demonstrating that a person is a real, unique human being without compromising privacy. It leverages cryptographically verifiable identifiers (such as W3C Decentralized Identifiers) and verifiable digital credentials (like W3C Verifiable Credentials) to construct a decentralized trust graph. This model avoids a centralized database, allowing all parties to control their own portable subgraphs of trust relationships within their digital agents and wallets. The concept of personhood credentials (PHCs) was initially proposed in an August 2024 paper, followed by further development in January 2025.
2. The ToIP AI and Human Trust Working Group: This group will focus on the intricate relationships between AI agents, human beings, and organizations, aiming to build frameworks that foster trust in these interactions.
3. The DIF Trusted AI Agents Working Group (TAIAWG): This group is dedicated to building and maintaining specifications, reference implementations, and governance patterns essential for high-trust AI agent ecosystems. As autonomous agents increasingly take on real-world responsibilities—such as composing tools, making decisions, exchanging verifiable data, and executing transactions—robust mechanisms for identity, delegation, authority, and governance become paramount. Kim Hamilton Duffy, Executive Director of DIF, emphasized the foundational requirement for ‘verifiable identities and adaptive, revocable delegation spanning organizational boundaries, all designed around zero-trust principles.’ Led by chairs Andor Kesselman, Nicola Gallo, and Dmitri Zagidulin, the TAIAWG will adopt a comprehensive approach to enable scalable, accountable, and human-aligned solutions. The first planned deliverable for this group is ‘Agentic Authority Use Cases.’ Other anticipated deliverables include agentic registries, agentic identity, agent protocol evaluation, trusted agent communication, trust frameworks for agents, agentic discovery, and agentic access control systems. The first meeting of the TAIAWG is scheduled for September 30, 2025, at 8 AM PST.
Daniela Barbosa, Executive Director of LF Decentralized Trust, highlighted the urgency of this collaboration, stating, ‘As AI accelerates, the question is no longer if we need digital trust frameworks, but how quickly we can deliver them.’ She affirmed LFDT’s commitment to supporting this joint effort to embed trust, identity, and accountability as core pillars of AI.
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These initiatives underscore a collective effort to proactively address the ethical and practical implications of AI, ensuring that as AI agents become more integrated into daily operations, they do so in a manner that is secure, transparent, and trustworthy.
