Microsoft has introduced a new open-source project called NLWeb aimed at simplifying the creation of AI-powered chatbots on websites. The project was officially announced during the Build 2025 conference.
NLWeb allows users to add a conversational interface — a chat window with a text input field and a submit button — to their websites with just a few lines of code. Developers can use the AI model of their choice and integrate their own data sources.
For example, a retail website could create a chatbot using NLWeb to recommend clothing for travel, while a cooking website could implement an AI assistant that suggests meals to pair with specific recipes.
Web pages built with NLWeb can optionally make their content accessible to AI platforms that support Model Connection Protocol (MCP), a standard introduced by Anthropic. MCP enables AI models to directly interact with the systems where the data resides.
In a press release shared with TechCrunch, Microsoft stated:
“We believe NLWeb can play a role as significant as HTML in the agentic web. It enables users to interact with web content in a rich and semantic way.”
The origins of the project are also notable. While Microsoft has not confirmed this officially, it is believed that NLWeb may be based on early prototypes developed by OpenAI.
In November 2024, The Information reported that OpenAI had been testing an early version of this technology in collaboration with partners such as Condé Nast, Redfin, Eventbrite, and Priceline. At the time, the goal was to enable brands to integrate ChatGPT-like conversational features into their websites. However, the project faced delays due to technical challenges.
Now, NLWeb appears to be ready for public use — albeit with some differences from OpenAI’s original concept.
