OpenAI, Anthropic and Block have co-founded the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF) under the Linux Foundation to standardize and accelerate open-source “agentic AI.” At launch, three cornerstone projects have joined AAIF: OpenAI’s AGENTS.md, Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP), and Block’s goose agent framework. This effort is supported by Google, Microsoft, AWS, Bloomberg, and Cloudflare. linuxfoundation.org+2WIRED+2

Why this matters for 2026

Open, vendor-neutral standards are becoming the foundational elements for AI assistants that plan, call tools, and take action. By placing MCP, goose, and AGENTS.md within a Linux Foundation framework, AAIF aims to ensure interoperability, transparent governance, and community-driven evolution—the same approach that helped Linux, Kubernetes, and PyTorch grow. WIRED+1

What’s new

• New foundation: AAIF is established under the Linux Foundation as a neutral home for agent standards and projects.

• Founding donations: OpenAI is donating AGENTS.md (a lightweight spec for “README-for-agents”), Anthropic is contributing MCP (a protocol for connecting models/agents to tools and data), and Block is providing goose (an extensible agent framework).

• Ecosystem support: Major cloud and enterprise contributors (Google, Microsoft, AWS, Bloomberg, Cloudflare) have signed on at launch.

The projects

• AGENTS.md (OpenAI): A straightforward, open Markdown file convention—placed in a repository (or user scope)—that instructs coding agents on how to build, test, lint, and follow project rules; think of it as a “README for agents.”

• Model Context Protocol / MCP (Anthropic): An open protocol that allows agents to securely connect to external tools, data sources, and environments—key for “plan → tool-use → act” loops. Now overseen by AAIF.

• goose (Block): An open-source agent framework designed to integrate with shared building blocks like MCP and AGENTS.md.

What this means for builders

AAIF’s baseline allows you to integrate agents into your existing setup with less custom work: create tasks in Asana, reference runbooks in Notion, map systems in Miro, and base responses on enterprise search through Glean—while adhering to open standards (AGENTS.md + MCP).

OpenAI, Anthropic, and Block launched the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF) under the Linux Foundation to standardize agentic AI. Founding donations include AGENTS.md (OpenAI), MCP (Anthropic), and goose (Block), with support from Google, Microsoft, AWS, Bloomberg, and Cloudflare, promoting open, interoperable agent ecosystems.

FAQs

What is the Agentic AI Foundation?
A Linux Foundation initiative providing a neutral home for open-source standards and projects that enable interoperable AI agents (e.g., MCP, goose, AGENTS.md). linuxfoundation.org

What did OpenAI contribute?
AGENTS.md, a lightweight, open format for briefing coding agents on build, test, and workflow rules within a repository. GitHub

Who else supports AAIF?
Launch supporters include Google, Microsoft, AWS, Bloomberg, and Cloudflare. WIRED

How does this benefit developers and enterprises?
Common standards reduce lock-in and make it easier to integrate agents with tools and data—speeding reliable workflows and compliance across existing systems. WIRED