Self Acquires AI Firm Loam to Build Identity Layer for Agentic Web

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – April 09, 2026 – In a significant move to define the infrastructure of the future internet, identity verification company Self Labs today announced its acquisition of Loam, an artificial intelligence firm specializing in agentic systems. The deal brings together Self's privacy-focused "proof-of-human" technology with Loam's expertise in creating autonomous AI agents, signaling a bold strategy to build the foundational identity layer for an internet increasingly driven by AI.

As part of the acquisition, Loam’s founder, Birju Shah, the former Head of AI at Uber and a current professor at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, will join Self as its Chief Operating Officer. The move aims to fuse Self’s established identity verification network, which serves over 14 million users, with Loam’s advanced AI capabilities, positioning the combined entity to tackle one of the most pressing challenges of the digital age: establishing trust between humans, applications, and a new class of autonomous AI agents.

A Strategic Play for the Agentic Era

The acquisition is not merely a corporate consolidation but a calculated bet on the next evolution of the internet, often referred to as the "agentic web." This emerging paradigm moves beyond simple generative AI tools, like chatbots, envisioning a digital ecosystem where autonomous AI agents can execute complex, multi-step tasks on behalf of users—from booking travel to managing enterprise supply chains. However, this future hinges on a critical, unresolved question: in a world populated by both humans and autonomous bots, how do you verify identity and establish trust?

Self Labs is positioning this acquisition as the answer. By integrating Loam’s technology, the company plans to create a robust system for verifying identities in a way that respects user privacy. This "trust layer" is designed to confirm that a user is a real person, meets age requirements, or is not on a sanctions list, without harvesting and storing sensitive personal data. More profoundly, it aims to create a framework where AI agents themselves can have a form of verifiable identity, ensuring their actions are accountable and auditable.

“As AI’s impact on the internet rapidly evolves, identity and humanity are the necessary trust layer,” said Rene Reinsberg, co-founder and CEO of Self Labs, in the official announcement. “Companies throughout the world are looking to urgently address developments in AI, emerging regulation, and the need for stronger online safety rails for children and society at large. Self is building a solution to create this trust layer without compromising user privacy.”

Fusing Privacy-First Identity with Advanced AI

Self Labs has already built a formidable presence in the identity space. Founded on the principle of privacy-preserving verification, its technology is trusted by major platforms like Google and Opera for services such as age verification and phone-number mapping. The company recently made headlines for its work with Google and Tether, providing the proof-of-human and sanctions screening infrastructure for a novel U.S. Dollar stablecoin distribution engine. With a user base of over 14 million, its tools have become a quiet but crucial part of the web's plumbing.

Loam, though a younger company founded in 2022, brings a different but equally critical set of expertise. Before the acquisition, Loam was applying its sophisticated agentic AI systems to complex, real-world problems. Its work included developing platforms to help consumer-packaged goods companies transition their supply chains to regenerative agriculture, using intelligent automation to analyze land, match farmers, and manage incentives. This experience in building AI that can navigate intricate, multi-step workflows in the physical world provides a powerful foundation for building digital agents.

The synergy is clear: Self provides the secure, privacy-first "who," while Loam provides the intelligent, autonomous "how." The combination allows for the creation of programmable identity solutions that can be applied not just to human users but to the very agents acting on their behalf, a crucial step for enterprise automation and the next generation of consumer applications.

A New COO and a Vision for Full-Stack Identity

The appointment of Birju Shah as COO is a cornerstone of the acquisition. Shah is a veteran of the AI industry with over two decades of experience building and scaling machine learning products at a global level. His tenure as Head of AI at Uber saw him manage vast teams and develop products used by billions. Beyond his corporate experience, Shah is a respected academic and AI ethicist, co-creating a popular executive education class on Generative AI at Northwestern.

His leadership is expected to accelerate Self's evolution from a provider of specific verification tools into a comprehensive, full-stack identity infrastructure for the entire internet. Shah’s vision directly addresses the paradox of the AI era: the more intelligent and autonomous our systems become, the more we need a reliable way to ground them in verifiable, human-centric identity.

“AI is pushing the internet into a new era, but intelligence without identity creates enormous trust gaps,” Shah stated. “Self has built exactly the kind of privacy-preserving human verification layer that this new world needs, and is positioned to become the core identity infrastructure for the internet––not just for users, but for the agents and applications acting on their behalf.”

Navigating a New Digital Frontier

Self's acquisition of Loam places it at the center of two rapidly converging industries: privacy-focused identity verification and the burgeoning market for agentic AI systems. The former is seeing a surge in innovation around decentralized identity and zero-knowledge proofs, while the latter is attracting massive venture capital investment as businesses look to automate end-to-end workflows.

By merging these two domains, Self is stepping into a unique but challenging role. The company will need to navigate a complex landscape of technical hurdles, regulatory pressures, and profound ethical questions. The demand for solutions is undeniable, as social networks face increasing pressure for effective age verification to protect minors, and enterprises require auditable and secure ways to deploy AI agents that can access sensitive data.

The integration of Loam's agentic systems capabilities directly into Self's core product and engineering organization is a clear statement of intent. The company is no longer just helping platforms tell the difference between a person and a bot; it is building the framework that will govern how people and bots interact in a future where the lines are increasingly blurred. This move positions Self not just as a participant in the AI revolution, but as a key architect of the rules that will define it. As autonomous systems become more embedded in our daily digital lives, the success of ventures like this one may determine whether the agentic web evolves into a trusted, functional ecosystem or a chaotic digital wild west.