TLDR: GoDaddy has launched a new trusted identity naming system for AI agents, aiming to bring security and verification to the rapidly expanding AI ecosystem. The system leverages the company’s decades of experience in domain names and SSL certificates to address the challenge of distinguishing legitimate AI agents from malicious ones, especially as agent-to-agent interactions become more prevalent.
TEMPE, Arizona – October 3, 2025 – GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) has introduced a pioneering trusted identity naming system specifically designed for artificial intelligence (AI) agents, a move aimed at establishing a crucial layer of security and verification within the burgeoning AI landscape. The announcement comes as industry projections anticipate over one billion AI agents to be developed by businesses within the next three years, highlighting an urgent need for a standardized trust framework.
The rapid proliferation of AI agents, and their increasing interactions with each other, has created a significant challenge: the absence of a reliable method to differentiate authentic, vetted agents from potentially unvetted or malicious counterparts. GoDaddy’s new service directly addresses this high-stakes issue by providing a mechanism to easily find, verify, and trust AI agents.
Travis Muhlestein, Chief Technology Officer, Product & AI at GoDaddy, articulated the company’s strategic position, stating, “The AI agentic space is a lot like the ‘Wild West’ of the early internet, but fortunately GoDaddy has three decades of experience building and sustaining trust in complex, rapidly evolving ecosystems. With our scale, expertise and technology, GoDaddy is uniquely positioned to extend that trust and help keep the internet safe from rogue AI agents.”
The new system builds upon GoDaddy’s extensive expertise in managing domain names, the Domain Name System (DNS), and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates. It integrates these proven technologies with innovative mechanisms for agent identity and lifecycle management. Key technical details of the service include:
Discovery through Domains and DNS: AI agents can be linked to easy-to-read, human-friendly domain names, making them simple to locate and identify within a universal directory.
Verifiable Identity with X.509 Certificates: The authenticity of AI agents is confirmed through X.509 certificates, issued by trusted authorities. This enables cryptographic verification, ensuring that an agent is legitimate and operating in good standing.
Protocol-Agnostic Operation: The service is engineered with a modular adapter layer, allowing it to function seamlessly across various protocols and diverse AI ecosystems.
Agent Lifecycle Management: GoDaddy’s approach includes features for the registration, renewal, and revocation of agent identities, ensuring ongoing security and governance throughout an agent’s operational lifespan.
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The framework draws inspiration from a draft proposed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for an Agent Name Service (ANS), which outlines how discovery and verification can be effectively combined in a universal directory. GoDaddy is actively collaborating with standards bodies and industry partners to foster broad participation and ensure seamless interoperability across the AI agent ecosystem. A developer preview of the system is expected to launch in the coming weeks, marking a significant step towards a more secure and trustworthy future for AI agent interactions.
