Artificial intelligence gets eyes and hands in the home. Google launches a major new feature

In the last year, one closed door after another has opened for artificial intelligence – and now, also the doors to your smart home. Google has launched Google Home MCP, which allows an AI assistant to directly access your cameras, lights, or thermostat for the first time. The key to this is the acronym that many people have never heard before: MCP, or Model Context Protocol.

MCP is like a USB-C connector for artificial intelligence

The acronym MCP stands for Model Context Protocol and was not invented by Google. It was introduced at the end of 2024 by Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI models, and was immediately released as an open standard that anyone can use.

Previously, if an AI assistant needed to work with a specific service – a calendar, an e-shop, or a smart bulb, for example – someone had to program a custom connection for it. With thousands of assistants and services, one-off bridges were constantly being created. MCP replaces this chaos with a single common language.

Anthropic itself uses an analogy that almost everyone understands today: MCP is “USB-C for artificial intelligence”. Just as one universal connector replaced a tangle of chargers, a single MCP interface replaces the disparate ways AI connects with the outside world. If you connect a service once via MCP, any assistant that supports the standard can immediately work with it.

And what exactly happens behind the scenes? One side (the MCP server) offers a set of tools and data – for example, “dim the light” or “show the last camera recording”. The other side, the AI assistant acting as a client, connects to the server, finds out what it can do, and requests individual actions as needed.

What is Google Home MCP good for?

Google has now applied this very principle to the smart home. Google Home MCP is a server that opens access for AI agents to all devices and event history in your Google Home – from Nest doorbells and thermostats to light bulbs with the Matter or Works with Google Home label. For the first time, assistants will gain a real overview of what’s happening in your home, moving beyond a simple “turn on and turn off” functionality.

Google itself shows several scenarios that the launch of Home MCP will suddenly enable.

• You ask the assistant what the children did after coming home from school, and it compiles a summary with video clips from several cameras
• You let it go through device history and calculate how many times you ran the washing machine in a week or how long the lights were on
• Once a lengthy task is completed, it will notify you with a voice message via a smart speaker
• It will compile a custom home dashboard from your data, tailored precisely to your needs

In practice, this means a shift from controlling individual switches to asking your home in plain language, and it responds based on real events happening in your home. Artificial intelligence thus gains “physical context” – it knows not only what you type, but also what is currently happening in your living room.

The agent won’t unlock your doors, it’s about security

Allowing a foreign artificial intelligence access to home devices sounds a bit spooky, and Google is aware of this. Home MCP therefore enforces limits and security safeguards – it prohibits sensitive actions such as unlocking doors for the agent, even if it would otherwise have permission. However, the company has not disclosed the exact number of requests or a complete list of prohibited actions.

Artificial intelligence gets eyes and hands in the home. Google launches a major new feature Adam Kurfürst News Adam Kurfürst News

Furthermore, you can revoke access at any time directly in the Google Home app. Google also warns that depending on the specific agent, the connection may lead to unexpected or undesirable behavior – therefore, the responsibility for whom you grant access to your home lies primarily with you.

When and how do you turn it on? And why not in the Czech Republic yet

Google Home MCP is currently running as early access and in its initial phase, only in English and only for users in the USA. Furthermore, it requires a paid subscription to Google Home Premium Advanced (20 dollars per month, formerly Nest Aware Plus), which also unlocks additional Gemini features for camera recordings.

Even after payment, it’s not a matter of a single button. The setup itself requires a bit of DIY: you need to create a project in Google Cloud, link it with Home MCP, and provide the configuration data to the agent. The agent will then request login and permission granting.

For Czech users, there’s a double obstacle. The paid Home Premium and Gemini for Home are not officially available here at all – the Czech Republic was not among the launch countries, and Czech is not yet among the supported languages. Even if you somehow obtained the subscription and hardware, you still wouldn’t be able to access Google Home MCP due to the restriction to the USA and English. Google has not specified when this will change.

Would you allow artificial intelligence access to cameras and locks in your home?

Sources: Google, 9to5Google, Engadget