Anthropic and HHMI Janelia Research Campus have introduced the Model Hardware Standard (MHS), a research preview specification that enables AI agents to operate physical devices safely. MHS addresses the challenge of integrating diverse lab and manufacturing equipment by providing a standardized driver layer. This driver translates between a computer's operating system and hardware, using simple commands like "read" and "write" to control devices.

It also makes devices discoverable and includes natural-language tags that describe device characteristics, such as safety limits, allowing agents to understand and operate unfamiliar hardware. MHS supports multiple control mechanisms, including MCP, command line interfaces, and code files, enabling orchestration across devices. The goal is to reduce integration time from weeks or months to hours or minutes, and to support autonomous, round-the-clock experiments.

The research preview is shared with partners in science, electronics, and manufacturing to develop safety evaluations and best practices before making the standard open source. MHS is model-agnostic and works with any programmable device. Researchers and manufacturers can apply for access to the preview.