Anthropic is proposing a new standard for connecting AI assistants to the systems where data lives, called Model Context Protocol (MCP).

The Model Context Protocol connects an AI system to multiple data sources, which Anthropic says can eliminate the need to create custom code for each one.

Anthropic says the software has already been adopted by several tech firms. Companies can connect their LLMs to external systems in a bid to make them more useful. An electronics maker, for example, could equip an LLM with the ability to answer customer support requests by giving it access to a repository of troubleshooting guides.