Latest news with #NANDA
Forbes
09-08-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Getting Closer To AI Internet Protocols
It's an important time for connectivity with artificial intelligence. You might say that 2024 was the year of finding out about AI's agentic capabilities – although you could maybe argue that most execution has been within the last six months, 2024 was a blizzard of recognizing benchmarks – wait, AI can do that? And then: it can do that too? Now that we know all of this, as agents are getting more deployable and more frequently deployed, it's more relevant to look at how they will work, how they will connect to each other. I've written before about how people at MIT are pioneering the NANDA (Networked Agents and Decentralized AI) protocol for connecting online AI agents, but to be honest, now seems like a better time to be scrutinizing these kinds of plans. Sure, the work on NANDA takes place in the context of other protocols like A2A and, famously, MCP, but since those other projects are tied to leading AI companies, why not involve academia in something so central to future interface design? Partnerships and Coordination MIT is also assisted by many partners in setting up the idea of NANDA to handle future intelligence Internet traffic. Here's what Dr. Harrick Vin at Tata Consultancy Services has to say: We are rapidly entering a world where AI systems will be built using a decentralized network of AI agents, potentially traversing organizational boundaries. The design of such systems demands open protocols to discover, build trust, integrate, orchestrate, and exchange value among a network of intelligent agents. TCS is excited to support and contribute to MIT's decentralized AI program NANDA aimed at realizing this vision. Other businesses, like Mitsubishi Electric, are also involved. Thoughts on Implementation I saw an interesting kind of comparison from Abhishek Singh, someone close to this project, at a lightning talk presentation at Imagination in Action's event in April. Singh talked about how humans are a 'social animal' and how that helped them to stand out from other primates. (Not that monkeys aren't social, but…) What I thought was interesting was a chart, comparing inputs and components of the success of the species, to the development of the Internet, and then to AI… Note how the AI part just has ? ? ? Eventually, Singh populates this part of the chart with things like MCP, Coupon Protocol, and registry design, showing how we might be able to evolve our technology to accommodate all of those intelligent agents that will be running around on the web, doing so many things on our behalf. As for coupons, here's how Singh breaks down this concept: 'In the Internet stack, we have the website, (and) we have hyperlinks that allow us to go from one page, one web page, to another web page, and so on,' he says. 'That hyperlink creates the web out of fragmented websites. Now we can index the web. We can search on the web. We can build reputation engines, we can build Google search, and so on.' Then he discusses the similarity to coupons: 'What does it mean to build a hyperlink for the agents? We have a proposed protocol for this, this notion of our concept of coupons … these coupons are verifiable. We'll go into the details of privacy and authenticity later. But these interaction coupons are allowing you to capture the faces of how the knowledge is spreading across these areas. And as I said, you can use these coupons, then, to build services on top, which are replication, search, context, and so on.' Midway through explaining all of this, he spoke to some of the enduring obstacles of getting all of this together: 'There are some practical challenges in the world of agents that you have to acknowledge,' he said, 'and we have to understand that genius won't solve them.' At the same time, Singh suggested, progress has been made. 'We are just getting started,' he said. 'I would say we have made two contributions. One is (the) protocol and architecture layer, and the other contribution is actual application to demonstrate the potential. So the applications are very opinionated, when the protocols are very lightweight and flexible.' More on NANDA Other lightning talks on the subject included Andrea Ridi talking about his years of work on startups, and the need to equip agents with what they need to function. My colleague Ramesh Raskar weighed in, too, as he's been very involved in NANDA, and a researcher named Cameron Dennis went over the work of some colleagues on a company called NEAR that is working on NANDA-related concepts. Looking at all of this, you start to get a picture of how this is going to work. Early speculative notions of web3, the semantic web, were often limited to a protocol like JSON for code porting, but now we have AI agents actually doing things online. How could that not be a game-changer for a previously established worldwide global network that runs so much of our societies across the board? Stay tuned as a new Internet continues to develop.
Forbes
08-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Line Up And Identify Yourselves: AI Agents Get Organized With NANDA
Earth (focus on Europe) represented by little dots, binary code and lines - big data, global ... More business, cryptocurrency 3D render Getting in on the ground floor of a big tech transformation means covering some of the previously unknown innovations that are not yet household names, but will be in the future. Case in point – we're now in the age of agentic AI. People are hearing more about AI agents. But not many of them know about something called NANDA. In fact, it's hard to Google this and get accurate results. You get a bunch of links to a nursing organization. The NANDA that's going to power the future of the global Internet actually came out of MIT, and it's mostly only a known quantity (if you'll pardon the nod to quantum) among data scientists and people in other similar roles. But it's probably going to be a major influence on our technology in just a few years. What is NANDA? NANDA is essentially a system to provide a full platform for agent interactions. It's a protocol for a new AI Internet that's modified and evolved to handle the capabilities of LLMs. One of the most prominent writers on NANDA, Rahul Shah, describes it as a 'full stack protocol' where agents have cryptographic identities – we'll get back to that in a minute. 'NANDA does not replace A2A or MCP,' Shah writes, citing Agent to Agent protocols and the Model Context Protocol that has arisen to handle what you might call the 'AI API race.' 'Instead, it provides the naming, verification, and economic backbone that allows agents to function in real-world, distributed environments — securely, scalably, and autonomously. The goal is to enable a self-sustaining ecosystem, where useful agents are rewarded and trusted — while spammy or malicious agents can be excluded based on cryptographic audit trails.' In terms of platform features, there's an agent registry, and the system uses dynamic resolution logic to provide routing for agent transactions. There's also auditing, and distributed ledger technology, where NANDA uses zero-knowledge proofs to verify what agents do. But all of this is kind of a high-flown way to describe what NANDA is. Think of it a different way that's more intuitive and has to do with how AI agents resemble people. AI Agents Line Up to be Counted In so many ways, the idea of the AI agent is like a digital twin of a person – in other words, we view these agents as having those cognitive abilities that individual people have. We can even give them names and avatars, and make them seem very human indeed. They can pass all kinds of Turing tests. They are discrete entities. They're like people. If you take that metaphor further, NANDA is a protocol that's sort of like an organizational system for people. At a company, you have an org chart. If you're choosing teams for softball, you have a roster or a list of names. A teacher in a classroom has some kind of document to identify each student. This is the kind of thing that NANDA develops and orchestrates. It's a system for these AI agents to be known and understood – in effect, you're asking: 'who are they? And what do they do?' All of this takes place in the context of multi-agent systems where AI agents are working together to create solutions. More on NANDA I sat through a panel on AI at IIA, where some of the foremost people in this field talked about NANDA and everything around it. My colleague Ramesh Raskar characterized this as using the 'building blocks' for new agentic systems. Investor Dave Blundin mentioned a 'litany of useful functions' and a need for a system of micropayments for services. 'When this happened on the internet, nobody could figure out the revenue model, and then it all moved to ad revenue, because it's just: 'throw some banner ads on it, and throw it out there,'' he said. 'That's not going to work with AI agents. You don't want these things marketing (to people).' Aditya Challapally mentioned three big risks inherent in building these systems: trust, culture and orchestration. 'When we say culture, we mean things like: 'what are the societal standards for how an agent can interact with you?' (for example) can an agent DM you on LinkedIn, on behalf of another person, or do they have to say they're an agent, or something like this, … establishing that sense of culture. And then the third piece of this is orchestration, which is … how do agents talk to each other from a more (organized) protocol setup?' Panelist Anil Sharma spoke to a kind of wish list for the new protocol. 'I would like to see application sustainability,' he said. 'I would like to see this in social impact, in areas such as agriculture and other places … because this is where the data and value is locked across ecosystems, beyond enterprises into non-profit and government (systems).' And panelist Anna Kazlauskas talked about the necessity of data ownership. 'You can imagine, a couple of years out, you've got an AI agent, I picture 10 AI agents, that can go and autonomously do work, and maybe even earn on (a user's) behalf and collaborate with others,' she said. 'And I think one of the risks is that there's a single platform (for) all of those agents, right? And so I think especially as your AI agents start to produce real economic value, it's really important that you actually have kind of sovereignty and true ownership over that.' Blundin, in talking about the 'unbundling' of services, mentioned a related concern: that AI could build services more efficiently than companies, putting companies on their toes, enabled by a protocol like NANDA. That's a bit more of a window into how NANDA will work, and what it is supposed to do. Coming Soon So, although you haven't heard much about NANDA yet, you're going to. I thought it was helpful to provide that metaphor to show the various ways in which new protocols will treat AI agents like people – giving them names, identities, jobs, roles, and more, as they collaborate and work together, hopefully on our behalf, and to our benefit.
Khaleej Times
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
Nari Shakti by NANDA ignites Dubai with a powerful celebration of Indian culture and womanhood
In a dazzling celebration of Indian culture, classical art, and feminine strength, Nari Shakti – meaning "Power of Women" – took center stage in Dubai, leaving over 1,500 attendees deeply moved. Conceived and executed entirely by women, this landmark event featured more than 100 Indian classical dancers from across the UAE, presenting 15 captivating performances, culminating in the breathtaking Bharatanatyam production Agni Kanye. Masterminded by visionary choreographer and cultural ambassador Guru Iswarya Bharadwaj, founder of NANDA Performing Arts Centre and Gulf Indian Performing Arts & Music Society (GIPAMS), the event showcased the UAE's dedication to nurturing artistic excellence, community spirit, and gender empowerment. The highlight, Agni Kanye, portrayed the life and emotional journey of Draupadi — an iconic symbol of resilience, dignity, and divine strength. The production featured performers ranging in age from 5 to 50, demonstrating intergenerational collaboration and the unifying power of the arts. This grand showcase, supported by Indian People's Forum (IPF) and several local organisations and brands, was a testament to grassroots creativity —complete with handmade props, original costumes, and all-women-led planning and execution. The evening also featured inclusive exhibits from people of determination and women creators. As part of the celebration, the Nari Shakti title was conferred upon three inspiring women: "Nari Shakti is more than a show, it's a movement," said Iswarya Bharadwaj."I envision launching corporate wellness programmes driven by the arts, counselling aspiring artists, and performing for the Rulers of the UAE to honour their inclusive vision and unwavering support for culture and women." Having performed across 500+ global stages, including the UK Parliament and Expo 2020 Dubai, Iswarya's journey from a humble upbringing in the UAE to becoming a celebrated global performer is a reflection of the Emirates' inclusive and aspirational ethos.
Forbes
29-04-2025
- Science
- Forbes
They're Making TCP/IP For AI, And It's Called NANDA
Not too long ago, I realize that there's a new type of standard reinventing the web that hardly anyone is talking about – yet. Let's start with the name: Networked Agents and Decentralized AI or NANDA is a web protocol for AI agents that's largely being worked on right here at MIT. Here's an important note – in terms of design context, NANDA builds on Anthropic's Model Context Protocol (MCP) that provides for standardized transactions between AI agents. NANDA adds Internet capability and protocols, so that these agents can 'do things' over the web. That's it, in a nutshell, but getting there is going to take work. What I found really interesting is that hardly anyone knows that this effort is taking place. I hadn't heard of NANDA before, so I did a quick web search. I mostly came up with something related to the nursing industry, and alternately, a name for an LLM project geared towards the Hindi language. However, some of the authors of a paper on NANDA have released items to LinkedIn explaining how this protocol is going to work. 'Just as DNS revolutionized the internet by providing a neutral framework for web access, we need a similar infrastructure for the 'Internet of Agents,'' writes Ayush Chopra, a PhD candidate at MIT who is working on this idea. 'We're launching NANDA - an open protocol for registry, verification, and reputation among AI agents - in collaboration with national labs and global universities (decentralized across 8 time zones) - NANDA will pave the way for seamless collaboration across diverse systems, fully compatible with enterprise protocols like MCP and A2A. This initiative is a step toward democratizing agentic AI, creating an ecosystem where specialized agents can work together to solve complex challenges—just like DNS did for the web.' As for ChatGPT, when I asked the model 'what is NANDA for the web?' it came back with items about the nursing organization. I had to specifically ask for the full name of the project, Networked Agents and Decentralized AI, but it did attribute this to the MIT Media Lab, and Ramesh Raskar, a friend and colleague of mine, in particular. It came up with this very quick dual response, which I thought was pretty much on point: ✅ Yes, there is a newer field or research project called NANDA — Networked Agents and Decentralized AI. ✅ It's completely different from the nursing NANDA. That's a good start (and ChatGPT did provide more) – but we can get more from the people who are actually involved. Now let's go to Raskar himself speaking at an Imagination in Action event earlier in April. In it, he explained that NANDA is really a protocol for the Internet, the 'TCP/IP of AI' (I thought that was so good, I made it the title of this piece.' He talked about how the Internet is for computers, but the World Wide Web is for people. NANDA is for AI agents, he explained, to be able to use the Internet in the same ways as people do. As an example, Raskar talked about the challenge of planning a birthday party for a child, in which one could conceivably use AI agents to buy cake and balloons and other items, and make all of this process automated. As for buy-in, he said NANDA has active DNS registration at 15 major universities. He mentioned a three-part process for deployment: 1. host registration, 2. build APIs 3. connect to open source. Later, Raskar was asked a series of questions by Aaron Pressman, and talked about how this may roll out in the future. 'Everybody's craving something that's open and vibrant,' he said. 'MIT has a history. We are deeply inspired by Tim Berners Lee and the World Wide Web Consortium right here at MIT, you know, that really showed how we can create this open, vibrant web from the early '90s to about '95. And that really unleashed (a lot of) economic value.' Calling for projects that are 'ambitious, open and inclusive,' Raskar put forth the idea that we are now in a 'wisdom economy,' as opposed to a transaction or knowledge economy. 'We can imagine billions and trillions of dollars of value being created when each one of us has the ability to create our own AI agents, every shop, every individual, every organization, can train and deploy their own agents,' he said, promoting NANDA as a platform to 'build the commerce backbone' that will drive the new Web. I thought this was interesting: Raskar, in his talk, and Chopra, in his written explanation, introduced us to a new term: A2A – Agent to Agent. In talking about the use of cryptography and smart contracts, Raskar also gave us 'Know Your Agent' (KYA) presumably as a correlate to the Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols in place in crypto. 'If you think about the internet stack,' he said, 'we left things like Yelp … in the application layer, because (they include) the human messiness of scoring. But because this is agent-to-agent communication, lot of interactions are algorithmic.' Raskar's presentation helps us to put NANDA in context, and understand what it's for as well as what it's likely to do. I was excited about this partly because it's not really common knowledge yet. In the beginning, we had Web 1.0 – the read-only web, where people were mostly just looking at text and images coded in HTML. Web 2.0 was the read/write web, where web users could put information into web forms and send it back to a webmaster or host. Web 3.0 is the read/write/function web, where people could send information both ways, and/or utilize functions built into web technology. Web 4.0 is where machines are going to be doing all those things for us, and we're going to sit back and enjoy the music. At least, that's the idea. Look for this work to continue and really make its way into the public consciousness rather soon.
