Figma’s Dylan Field Questions Effectiveness of MCP Protocol Amid Expansion Plans

Figma co-founder Dylan Field has raised concerns about the model context protocol (MCP), which standardizes connections between AI agents and external data sources, as the company expands its support for this open-source standard.

During Figma’s first Config conference in India, the company announced partnerships with 20 new MCP partners, including Amp, ClickUp, Dia, Junie by JetBrains, Linear, Meta Muse, Mistral, Notion, OpenCode, and Sarvam Agents.

Field has previously expressed skepticism about MCP. Just days before the conference, one of MCP’s co-creators criticized Figma for not supporting the open-source tool Pi. In response, Field noted that Anthropic, the creators of the MCP standard, do not make various resources available through MCP.

On X, Field stated, “I find it interesting that Anthropic do not expose artifacts / other cloud resources created via MCP. The debate is framed as open vs closed. Everyone always prefers open… obviously. And meanwhile issues of asymmetric context sharing are ignored.” Field later confirmed that Figma plans to support Pi.

In a media briefing, Field elaborated on his views regarding MCP. He acknowledged Figma’s commitment to openness but stated, “I think that MCP is not a perfect protocol. And I think that it is something that has tons of room for improvement.” He added that the protocol tends to favor frontier labs.

Field recognized the desire of users for a protocol that allows them to utilize their Figma data. He said, “I want them to use it, too.” However, he emphasized that Figma’s reluctance to fully open its data stems from concerns about potential abuse.

He clarified that while most users do not intend to misuse MCP or Figma data, the company must remain vigilant about the associated risks.

Source: TechCrunch AI