NLWeb is Microsoft’s project to bring more chatbots to web pages

23/05/2025

NLWeb is Microsoft’s project to bring more chatbots to web pages | TechCrunch

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NLWeb is Microsoft’s project to bring more chatbots to web pages | TechCrunch

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NLWeb is Microsoft’s project to bring more chatbots to web pages
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[Kyle Wiggers](https://techcrunch.com/author/kyle-wiggers/)

9:00 AM PDT · May 19, 2025

As part of an effort to make building AI-powered chatbots on the web simpler, Microsoft is launching an open project called NLWeb.

Announced at Build 2025, NLWeb lets websites provide a “conversational interface” — i.e. a text field and a submission button — for their users with a few lines of code, the AI model of their choice, and their own data. A retailer could use NLWeb to create a chatbot that helps users choose clothing for specific trips, for example, while a cooking site could use it to build a bot that suggests dishes to pair with a recipe.

Web pages built using NLWeb can optionally make their content discoverable and accessible to AI platforms that support [MCP](https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/25/anthropic-proposes-a-way-to-connect-data-to-ai-chatbots/), Anthropic’s standard for connecting AI models to the systems where data resides.

“[W]e believe [NLWeb] can play a similar role to HTML for the agentic web,” writes Microsoft in press materials provided to TechCrunch. “[It] allows users to interact directly with web content in a rich, semantic manner.”

Microsoft didn’t say either way, but NLWeb may have its origins in tech from ChatGPT maker OpenAI, Microsoft’s close collaborator.

The Information [reported](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-considers-taking-on-google-with-browser) last November that OpenAI was working with partners including Condé Nast, Redfin, Eventbrite, and Priceline on an early version of NLWeb. Back then, OpenAI was pitching the tech as a way for brands to bring ChatGPT-like conversational features to their websites, but the project faced several delays due to technical hurdles.

Months later, it seems NLWeb is ready for prime time — albeit perhaps in a different form than OpenAI originally envisioned.

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![Image 5: Kyle Wiggers](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Kyle-Wiggers.jpg?w=150)

Kyle Wiggers

AI Editor

[](https://twitter.com/Kyle_L_Wiggers)[](https://bsky.app/profile/kylelwiggers.bsky.social)[](https://techhub.social/@kylelwiggers)[](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-lee-wiggers/)

Kyle Wiggers is TechCrunch’s AI Editor. His writing has appeared in VentureBeat and Digital Trends, as well as a range of gadget blogs including Android Police, Android Authority, Droid-Life, and XDA-Developers. He lives in Manhattan with his partner, a music therapist.

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