# Google moves A2A protocol to Agentic AI Foundation

> Google gave its A2A agent protocol to the Linux Foundation's AAIF on 20 August.

*The transfer places Google's agent-to-agent standard under the same neutral body that hosts Anthropic's Model Context Protocol.*

By Behzad Hosseini · WireRead
Canonical: https://wireread.com/news/google-moves-a2a-protocol-to-agentic-ai-foundation

Google transferred its Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol to the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF), a Linux Foundation body, the foundation announced on 20 August. The [A2A Protocol blog](https://a2a-protocol.org/latest/blog/2026/08/27/a-new-chapter-for-a2a-joining-the-agentic-ai-foundation/) confirmed on 27 August that the project had been accepted as a Growth Stage project within AAIF.

A2A launched in 2025 as an open protocol allowing AI agents built by different vendors to find each other, communicate and hand off tasks. More than 150 organisations back the protocol, according to the notes.

The move places A2A alongside Anthropic's Model Context Protocol (MCP), as well as the goose and AGENTS.md projects, all hosted by AAIF. [Techzine reported](https://www.techzine.eu/news/devops/143659/google-transfers-a2a-to-the-agentic-ai-foundation/) that AAIF's membership has grown from fewer than 40 organisations at its December 2025 launch to more than 250, including AWS, Anthropic, Block, Bloomberg, Cloudflare, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI.

The two protocols serve different functions. MCP connects an agent to tools and data, described as a vertical link, while A2A lets agents work with each other as peers, a horizontal link.

AAIF operates through a Governing Board, which handles strategy, budget and membership, and a Technical Committee, which oversees projects and reviews. The Linux Foundation provides legal and operational structure but not technical direction.

Google has compared its approach to Android, combining open standards with an ecosystem to speed adoption. Mazin Gilbert, AAIF's executive director, said "no single company will build every agent an enterprise needs."

Shared standards are intended to cut integration work between vendors and make multi-vendor agent systems practical rather than tying companies to one provider.

## Key takeaways

- AAIF accepted A2A as a Growth Stage project on 27 August
- AAIF membership grew from under 40 in December 2025 to over 250
- A2A links agents to each other; MCP links agents to tools and data

## Sources

- [A New Chapter for A2A: Joining the Agentic AI Foundation](https://a2a-protocol.org/latest/blog/2026/08/27/a-new-chapter-for-a2a-joining-the-agentic-ai-foundation/) — A2A Protocol, 2026-08-27
- [Google transfers A2A to the Agentic AI Foundation](https://www.techzine.eu/news/devops/143659/google-transfers-a2a-to-the-agentic-ai-foundation/) — Techzine, 2026-08-17