• Google Cloud Next 2025 Announcement: Google announced the Agent Development Kit (ADK), an open-source framework for simplifying intelligent, multi-agent app development. It supports the entire agentic system lifecycle and has been adopted internally in systems like Agentspace and CES.
• Core Concepts: Built around modular agents, workflow components (sequential, parallel, looping), and LLM-driven routing. Supports model integration through Google's Vertex AI Model Garden (including Gemini models) and is compatible with a broad ecosystem via LiteLLM. Enables tool usage through pre-built tools, external libraries, and other agents.
• Multimodal Interaction: Includes bidirectional streaming support for audio and video, allowing natural and multimodal interactions. Developers can test locally using a command-line interface and a visual web-based UI.
• Evaluation Tools: Integrated evaluation tools to assess outcomes and intermediate steps. Developers can create custom test cases for performance audits.
• Responsibility Concerns: AI researcher Cherokee Schill raised questions about responsibility in agentic design, emphasizing the need for evaluation metrics beyond task success.
• Community Impact: The open-source nature of ADK is recognized for potential in supporting community-driven infrastructure. Pranith Jain highlighted the significance of accessibility with more detailed documentation or tutorials.
• Availability: ADK is available via the GitHub repository.