GitHub and Microsoft Adopt Anthropic's Spec for AI Data Connections

Microsoft and GitHub Join Anthropic’s MCP Steering Committee

GitHub and its parent company, Microsoft, are now part of the steering committee for MCP, Anthropic’s standard designed for connecting AI models to data systems.

This announcement was made during Microsoft’s Build 2025 conference on Monday. It signifies growing industry acceptance of MCP within the artificial intelligence landscape.

MCP’s Growing Industry Support

Previously this year, both OpenAI and Google announced their support for MCP integration into their respective AI offerings. This demonstrates the protocol’s increasing relevance.

How MCP Functions

MCP empowers AI models to access data from various sources. These include business applications, software solutions, content repositories, and application development environments.

The protocol facilitates the creation of bidirectional connections between data sources and AI-powered applications, such as conversational chatbots.

MCP Servers and Clients

Developers can expose data through designated “MCP servers.” Simultaneously, they can construct “MCP clients” – applications and workflows – that connect to these servers upon request.

Microsoft and GitHub’s Commitment

Microsoft and GitHub are committed to providing “broad first-party support” for MCP across their platforms and services. This includes Microsoft Azure and Windows 11.

In the coming months, Windows will receive MCP integrations. These will allow developers to expose application functionality to MCP-enabled models.

According to Microsoft’s press materials, developers will be able to encapsulate app features and capabilities as MCP servers. This will make them accessible for use within Windows.

This will extend to core Windows functionalities, such as the File System, Windowing, and Windows Subsystem for Linux, all functioning as MCP servers for AI model interaction.

Contributions to the MCP Standard

Both GitHub and Microsoft are actively contributing to the evolution of the MCP standard itself.

Enhanced Security

Microsoft’s identity and security teams have collaborated with Anthropic, the MCP steering committee, and the wider MCP community. Their work resulted in an updated authorization specification.

This new specification allows MCP-connected applications to establish more secure connections to MCP servers. It also enables users to utilize “trusted sign-in methods” for granting AI applications access to data and services.

This includes access to personal storage and subscription plans.

MCP Server Registry

GitHub, in conjunction with the MCP steering committee, has designed a registry service for MCP servers.

This service will allow developers to implement centralized repositories – both public and private – for MCP server entries.

It will also facilitate the discovery and management of diverse MCP implementations and their associated configurations.