Anthropic AI has introduced the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard that connects AI assistant Claude to real-world data. It solves a big problem for AI: the struggle to pull information from outdated tools, separate systems, or scattered datasets that don’t normally work well together.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Alex Albert, Anthropic’s Head of Claude Relations, demonstrated how Sonnet 3.5 leveraged MCP to autonomously interact with GitHub, successfully creating a repository and submitting a pull request.
- Anthropic has released ready-to-use MCP servers for popular tools like Google Drive, Slack, and GitHub, while developers can build custom connectors.
- Currently, MCP supports only local connections via Claude Desktop apps, but Anthropic is developing secure remote server functionality to enable data sharing across teams.
Why it matters:
MCP simplifies AI integration with data sources, improving its efficiency and enabling Agentic AI systems, while its open-source nature makes it a key tool for advancing AI adoption.
