Open standards

The Universal Remote Control for AI — Alex Hancock, Block

The Universal Remote Control for AI — Alex Hancock, Block

Alex Hancock discusses the need for a standardized protocol for client-to-agent communication in AI, similar to how MCP standardizes agent-to-tool interaction. He introduces the Agent Client Protocol (ACP), born from Zed and JetBrains, as a JSON RPC-based solution for client software to control agent harnesses, send tasks, and receive updates. Hancock demonstrates ACP's flexibility with multiple clients driving a single agent and highlights how its new remote transport capability, combined with MCP and model APIs, enables independent placement of all agentic stack components, fostering a competitive ecosystem that will significantly enhance user experience.

Why AI needs a new kind of supercomputer network — the OpenAI Podcast Ep. 18

Why AI needs a new kind of supercomputer network — the OpenAI Podcast Ep. 18

OpenAI's Mark Handley and Greg Steinbrecher detail Multipath Reliable Connection (MRC), a new networking protocol designed to overcome the unique challenges of large-scale AI model training. They explain how moving intelligence to the network's edge creates a resilient, efficient, and simple system that handles constant hardware failures without disrupting massive, synchronized GPU workloads.