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Anthropic Launches Open Source Protocol to Connect AI Assistants to Enterprise Data
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) aims to simplify the integration between AI and data sources, promising more relevant answers and improving the scalability of applications
Isabella V26 November 2024

 

Anthropic has introduced a new open source protocol called Model Context Protocol (MCP), which aims to improve the connection between AI models and enterprise or application data sources. MCP facilitates universal integration between different platforms, optimizing the quality of responses and simplifying development.

Key points:

  • MCP is a standard protocol for connecting AI to enterprise and application data.
  • It enables bidirectional integration between data sources and AI assistants.
  • Released as open source, MCP is compatible with various systems and applications.
  • Enterprises can now develop without the need to create custom connectors.

Anthropic recently announced the launch of a new tool designed to improve the performance of AI models by improving interactions between AI and the data systems they access. The protocol in question, called Model Context Protocol (MCP), has been made open source and aims to solve one of the main limitations of AI assistants: the difficulty of interacting with heterogeneous data sources, such as enterprise tools and development software. Currently, AI models, while rapidly evolving in terms of reasoning and response generation capabilities, often remain isolated from enterprise systems. This isolation makes it difficult for developers to create seamless interactions between AI and information contained in heterogeneous systems, creating an obstacle to scalability and efficiency. MCP, as highlighted by Anthropic, solves this problem through a protocol that allows developers to establish bidirectional connections between enterprise data and AI applications, such as chatbots, reducing the need for custom implementations for each new data source. In practice, by adopting MCP, developers will be able to create a single connection between their AI model and data, greatly simplifying the integration and management of complex systems.

This new standard is compatible with any AI model and allows developers to connect their software to data sources in a universal way. MCP is not limited to specific sources or applications, but is designed for a wide range of environments, including enterprise tools and app development platforms. For example, companies such as Block and Apollo have already integrated the protocol into their systems, while development platforms such as Replit, Codeium, and Sourcegraph are preparing to support it. In this way, Anthropic hopes to create an ecosystem that makes data context management more sustainable and less fragmented, overcoming the need to create ad hoc connectors for each new source each time.

Another advantage of MCP is its ability to improve the interaction between AI and contextual information, which is crucial when it comes to practical applications such as coding. Developers will be able to connect their AI system to data repositories like GitHub, Slack, or Google Drive, without having to develop new integrations every time a new data source becomes relevant to their work. Users of Claude Enterprise, Anthropic’s AI chatbot platform, can already leverage this tool to connect Claude to their internal systems via MCP servers. To further facilitate adoption, Anthropic has made pre-configured servers available for some popular enterprise applications, and plans to soon offer tools to allow companies to deploy MCP servers in production at scale.

In parallel, OpenAI recently launched a similar feature in its ChatGPT platform, which allows users to interact with certain development apps via its “Work with Apps” system. However, while OpenAI is pursuing a more closed approach and focused on select partnerships, Anthropic is aiming for an open source solution, hoping to attract a broad spectrum of developers and companies. MCP is designed to go beyond the limitations of individual AI models, offering a universal solution that is not limited to a single platform or type of app. Despite promises of easier integration and improved AI responses, it remains to be seen how effectively MCP will be able to gain mass adoption, in a competitive sector dominated by players like OpenAI.

Time will tell if this approach will be able to conquer the market, but certainly the launch of MCP marks a milestone in the attempt to simplify and unify the landscape of interactions between AI and enterprise data.