MCP: OpenAI embraces rival Anthropic's protocol to supercharge AI with smarter data connections

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced in a post on X on Wednesday that OpenAI plans to integrate Anthropic's Model Context Protocol (MCP) into its suite of products, including the ChatGPT desktop application.

MCP, an open-source standard, assists AI models in generating more accurate and contextually appropriate responses to specific user queries. The protocol enables AI models to retrieve relevant data from various sources, such as business software and tools, content databases, and app development platforms, enhancing their task execution capabilities.

Through MCP, developers can create bidirectional connections between data sources and AI-driven applications like chatbots. Developers set up "MCP servers" to provide access to data and develop "MCP clients," such as applications and automated workflows, which can actively connect to these servers when necessary.

Since Anthropic open-sourced MCP, several companies – including Block, Apollo, Replit, Codeium, and Sourcegraph – have incorporated MCP support into their respective platforms. OpenAI plans to disclose further details about its MCP implementation strategy in the upcoming months.