GitHub & Microsoft Adopt Anthropic’s AI Data Integration Standard
▼ Summary
– GitHub and Microsoft are joining the steering committee for Anthropic’s MCP standard, which connects AI models to data systems.
– MCP allows AI models to access data from business tools, content repositories, and app development environments for tasks.
– Developers can build two-way connections between data sources and AI applications using MCP servers and clients.
– Microsoft and GitHub will provide first-party MCP support across platforms like Azure and Windows 11, including upcoming Windows integrations.
– Microsoft and GitHub contributed to MCP’s security and registry features, enabling secure sign-ins and centralized server management.
GitHub and Microsoft have officially joined the steering committee for Anthropic’s MCP, a groundbreaking protocol designed to streamline how AI models interact with data systems. This move, announced at Microsoft’s Build 2025 conference, signals growing industry momentum behind the standard, following earlier endorsements from OpenAI and Google.
MCP simplifies the way AI applications access and process data from diverse sources, including business tools, content repositories, and development environments. By establishing two-way connections between data and AI-powered solutions, the protocol enables seamless integration for chatbots, automation workflows, and other intelligent applications. Developers can create MCP servers to expose data and build MCP clients—such as apps—that interact with those servers on demand.
Microsoft and GitHub plan to roll out native MCP support across their ecosystems, including Azure and Windows 11. In the coming months, Windows will introduce MCP integrations, allowing developers to expose app functionalities—like File System, Windowing, and Windows Subsystem for Linux—as MCP-compatible services. This means AI models can directly interact with these system features, unlocking new possibilities for automation and productivity.
Beyond platform integration, both companies are actively contributing to the MCP standard. Microsoft’s security teams worked with Anthropic to refine authorization protocols, ensuring secure access to personal storage and subscription services through trusted sign-in methods. GitHub, meanwhile, helped design a registry service for MCP servers, enabling developers to manage public or private repositories for MCP implementations.
The adoption of MCP by major tech players highlights its potential to reshape AI development, making it easier to build intelligent applications that leverage real-time data. With Microsoft and GitHub now steering its evolution, the protocol is poised to become a cornerstone of next-gen AI infrastructure.
(Source: TechCrunch)
