Microsoft Launches NLWeb: Open Protocol Brings AI-Powered Conversation to the Web
Image Credit: Tadas Sar | Splash
Microsoft has announced the launch of NLWeb, a new open-source protocol revealed at its Build 2025 conference. NLWeb is designed to bring AI-powered natural language interaction directly to websites and web applications, letting users communicate with digital content in everyday language.
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What is NLWeb?
Short for Natural Language Web, NLWeb is a protocol that allows developers to quickly add AI-driven conversational features to their sites with minimal coding. NLWeb implements the emerging Model Context Protocol (MCP)—developed in collaboration with Anthropic—which provides a secure, standardized way for AI agents to access and interact with website data. By leveraging widely used web formats such as Schema.org and JSON, NLWeb streamlines implementation and ensures broad compatibility.
A key feature of NLWeb is its model-agnostic design: developers are free to choose their preferred AI models, rather than being limited to proprietary systems like Microsoft Copilot or OpenAI’s ChatGPT. This open approach is intended to lower barriers for developers and foster a diverse ecosystem of AI-powered websites.
Why NLWeb Matters
NLWeb is part of Microsoft’s vision for an “agentic web”—a shift from static web pages to dynamic, conversational experiences. With NLWeb, users can interact with websites using plain language, asking for recommendations, explanations, or specific content without having to navigate complex menus or search interfaces.
The protocol is available open-source on GitHub, inviting global developer collaboration and experimentation. NLWeb’s integration of MCP enables AI agents to efficiently discover and interact with website content in a secure and standardized way, making it easier for both large organizations and independent developers to adopt conversational AI.
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The AI Angle: Decentralizing Intelligence
By enabling websites to host their own AI-driven experiences and choose cost-effective models, NLWeb decentralizes AI capabilities and puts more control in the hands of content creators. Rather than relying on external platforms or traditional search engines, site owners can create custom, context-aware interactions tailored to their audiences.
Microsoft positions NLWeb as a foundational protocol for the AI-powered web, aiming for a level of ubiquity akin to established standards like HTML—but focused on natural language and intelligent agent interaction. Compatibility with Microsoft platforms such as Azure and Windows 11 is planned, and MCP is designed to support interoperability across the broader AI ecosystem.
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Broader Implications
With conversational AI embedded directly in websites, NLWeb could gradually reduce the central role of traditional search engines, giving publishers greater control over user engagement. However, widespread adoption will depend on how quickly both developers and users embrace these new interaction models. Early industry discussions highlight the transformative potential of an “agentic web”, but also note that realizing this vision may take time.
By making NLWeb freely available and encouraging community input, Microsoft aims to set a new open standard for AI integration on the web—competing with similar initiatives from Google, Amazon, and other tech giants.
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Source: GitHub, TechRepublic, Anthropic, Yahoo! News
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