Google Cloud has donated its Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol to the Linux Foundation, which has now announced a new community-driven project called the Agent2Agent Project.
A2A was originally developed by Google Cloud as a protocol specification, SDK, and tooling set that made communication between AI agents possible.
The protocol allows AI agents from different vendors to discover each other, share capabilities and context, and securely collaborate on complex tasks.
AI agents are AI-powered tools like chatbots, coding aids, autonomous agents, etc. With the AI ecosystem evolving rapidly and more agents sprouting from different sources, the need for interoperability and seamless cross-service automation becomes critical.
This is why Google developed A2A and was soon joined by big tech players leading the agentic AI proliferation in the enterprise, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, Salesforce, Cisco, SAP, and ServiceNow.
However, to avoid fragmentation in the space, with competing companies building separate protocols, Google Cloud has decided to hand off A2A to the Linux Foundation, making it more likely to be trusted and more widely adopted.
"The formation of the Agent2Agent project under the neutral governance of the Linux Foundation will ensure that this critical component remains vendor-agnostic and community-driven," reads Google's announcement.
"This move is designed to accelerate the adoption and development of the A2A protocol by providing a robust framework for open collaboration, intellectual property management, and long-term stewardship."
The Linux Foundation is a nonprofit organization that hosts and supports open-source projects such as Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js, PyTorch, and RISC-V.
The organization provides neutral governance, legal, operational, and technical support, and the infrastructure required for collaboration, trust, and longevity.
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