Why is Microsoft offering to turn websites into AI apps with NLWeb?

At the Build developer conference, Microsoft unveiled NLWeb, an open protocol enabling businesses to develop AI-driven interfaces for their websites. This initiative is viewed as a strategic move to ensure Microsoft claims the agentic web territory before competitors like Google and Amazon. Analysts see NLWeb as pivotal for agent-based computing, allowing agents to access and act on web data. Additionally, NLWeb integrates the Model Context Protocol, enhancing interoperability and making website content accessible to AI agents, thereby reinforcing Microsoft’s role as a central hub in this evolving landscape.

"NLWeb is not just a technical protocol, it's potentially a strategic moat as it will allow Microsoft to turn the entire web into a programmable interface for AI agents," said Dion Hinchcliffe.

"If Microsoft can standardize how the web interacts with agents, it gets a first-mover advantage in owning the interface layer for agentic computing. That's not just good for Bing and Azure: It positions Microsoft as the hub through which AI agents operate, monetize, and govern web interactions," Hinchcliffe explained.

Read at Computerworld