An Intel partnership claimed to have solved encryption bottlenecks stalling AI agents working on the edge, with possible ramifications for the burgeoning autonomous vehicle use case.

The effort saw zero exposure security platform Atsign merge an agentic AI architecture with Intel hardware-backed key generation, encryption, and hashing. Results claimed a 8,700% improvement in performance for hardware-accelerated, end-to-end encrypted communications using the Agent2Agent (A2A) standard.

The venture aims to solve the critical security risks inherent in distributed environments running AI workloads, including exposed keys, untrusted devices, sensitive data exchange, and workflow tampering. It also tackles the performance slowdown that comes with cryptographic operations.

On the software front, Atsign provided identity management, namespace isolation, scoped data sharing, end-to-end encryption, and auditability. These ensured agents were managed with default data privacy and a zero trust approach.

The hardware side included Intel-derived protected key storage, secure boot, and trusted compute tech. Intel’s total memory encryption and full disk encryption were used to help ensure data protection and platform integrity.

According to Atsign, an almost 88-times performance uplift was seen with Intel Xeon up to 5 Gb/s, and a 60-times uplift with Intel Core Ultra 9 up to 6 Gb/s.

The two firms framed the test results as advancing the burgeoning edge AI use case of smart cities via autonomous transport: think Waymo robotaxis, Toyota e-Palette self-driving shuttle buses, and the autonomous vehicle testing powered by Ericsson as South Korea builds out its AI infra through SK Telecom. The silicon side has seen edge AI chip vendors like Blaize sign various smart city contracts in the Asia region, with some starry Nokia support to boot.

Atsign CEO Aparna Rayasam noted the Intel partnership provided a “genuinely secure foundation for agentic edge AI deployments in smart transportation environments,” helping AI-enabled devices “operate autonomously at the edge, where both trust and speed are essential."

Atsign joined Intel’s Industrial Builders partner program, offering Intel users access to Atsign's pre-validated solutions and a gateway to connect with Atsign for requests for proposals (RFPs), reference architectures, and proof-of-concept (PoC) deployments.