Microsoft's Bold Bet to Reinvent the Web with AI

On May 19th, 2025, the future of the internet got a new blueprint—and it came from the mind of Kevin Scott. In a riveting conversation on The Verge’s Decoder podcast, Microsoft’s Chief Technology Officer laid bare his vision for how artificial intelligence will not just enhance the web, but fundamentally rewire its architecture. The heart of this transformation? A deceptively simple but revolutionary idea called the Model Context Protocol, or MCP. As Scott explained it, MCP is more than a technical framework—it's a philosophical pivot. At a time when AI models routinely scrape, summarize, and surface content with little oversight from the humans who created it, MCP seeks to restore balance. This open standard allows website owners to set rules for how their content is accessed and interpreted by AI systems, turning the current extraction economy into a conversation. Imagine a future where creators don't simply publish for human readers but also define how large language models interact with their work—whether they want to be cited, excluded, summarized, or monetized. That’s the control MCP offers, and in Scott’s view, it’s not optional—it’s essential. As AI tools become more deeply embedded in how we search, learn, and communicate, the web must evolve to support this new layer of machine interaction. But the impact doesn’t stop at content control. Scott emphasized the urgent need for new business models to replace the collapsing ad-based economies that have long sustained digital content. If AI can answer questions without sending users to the source, how do publishers get paid? Microsoft’s answer isn’t a single product—it’s a decentralized ecosystem where participation and attribution are built into the framework. This vision arrives at a moment of high stakes. As AI threatens to hollow out the very web it feeds on, Microsoft is staking a claim on a more sustainable, inclusive path—one where the internet becomes a place not just consumed by algorithms, but shaped by intentional design. Kevin Scott’s remarks aren’t just commentary—they’re a call to action. The web, as we know it, is being rewritten in real time. And if Microsoft has its way, the next version won’t just be smarter—it will be fairer, freer, and forged in partnership between humans and machines.