Anthropic pushes into physical world with new standard to help AI agents operate machines

Anthropic announced the Model Hardware Standard (MHS), a new interface that allows AI agents to control and communicate with physical machines, similar to how USB-C standardizes connections between devices. The standard works with any device that has a programmable interface (a way to receive instructions), including scientific equipment and manufacturing tools, and is designed to be model-agnostic (not limited to Anthropic's Claude AI models). The company plans to eventually open-source the standard so any manufacturer can use it, though it is currently available only to select organizations in science, robotics, and manufacturing.