The battle to AI-enable the web: NLweb and what enterprises need to know
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Summary
Microsoft has unveiled its open source NLWeb protocol which turns websites into AI-powered “apps” where users can query content using natural language, during its Build 2025 conference.
-NLWeb builds on existing web syndication protocols such as RSS and RDF, and functions as an instance of Microsoft’s Model Control Protocol (MCP) a standard for connecting AI systems to data sources.
The CTO of O’Reilly Media, one of multiple organisations currently using NLWeb, said that rather than competing with other protocols, it builds on top of them and is like “HTML for the agentic web”.
Analysts suggest enterprises should adopt the protocol, but it is in the early stages of maturity and is likely to take two to three years to achieve substantial adoption.