Microsoft unveils NLWeb project to turn every website into an AI-enabled app

Microsoft has introduced NLWeb, a new open project designed to embed artificial intelligence capabilities directly into the fabric of the internet. Announced at its Build 2025 conference, NLWeb—short for Natural Language Web—envisions a future where every website can handle natural language queries, essentially transforming the static web into a dynamic, AI-interactive space.

The company likens NLWeb’s potential impact to the introduction of HTML, which made website creation accessible to all. “NLWeb is the fastest and easiest way to effectively turn your website into an AI app, allowing users to query the contents of the site by directly using natural language, just like with an AI assistant or Copilot,” Microsoft explained in its newsroom announcement.

Rather than relying on traditional search boxes, NLWeb aims to equip websites with AI-powered chatbot interfaces. But the project’s ambitions don’t stop at chatbots. Each NLWeb-enabled site will also act as a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, a universal standard developed by Anthropic for connecting AI systems to external data sources. This means NLWeb-enabled websites will become accessible and crawlable for AI agents across the growing MCP ecosystem.

The wider vision is to create a new web structure where AI agents can seamlessly extract data and perform tasks, from customer service and negotiation to handling product returns, all autonomously. “Ultimately, we believe NLWeb can play a similar role to HTML in the emerging agentic web,” Microsoft said, hinting at a more interactive, AI-friendly internet.

NLWeb is technology-agnostic, supporting all major operating systems, AI models, and vector databases, according to the company. The project is the brainchild of RV Guha, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President and Technical Fellow, who recently joined the company.

Microsoft’s latest move is part of a broader push to lead the next wave of web and AI integration, as the company hosts its developer conference and accelerates its focus on artificial intelligence profits.