Support both and do not bet on a protocol: shipping adapters for MCP and ARD costs very little, and pricing power belongs in data connections and audit logs. MCP became the de facto default in 18 months, winning developer mindshare but not control.
The mainstream reading takes ARD at its word: a complement to MCP rather than a replacement, and compatible with it, so the two coexist. The diary reads it as embrace and extend, an encirclement of MCP where the winner is whoever stands at the toll booth. That reading is the author's inference.
According to an exclusive report by The Information (single source), Google, Microsoft, Salesforce and others are jointly pushing a new standard, ARD, to connect AI agents into enterprise software, aimed squarely at MCP (diary entry dated July 13, 2026). MCP originated at Anthropic and became the de facto default in 18 months. ARD officially positions itself as a complement rather than a replacement and is compatible with MCP. The diary has no adoption data for either protocol.
For founders: ship adapters for both MCP and ARD, and put pricing power in data connections and audit logs, not in the protocol. For investors: put money into identity, authentication, billing and enterprise data connectivity, and lower the weight of portfolios that are all-in on MCP.