Block, the payments company behind Square, has released Buzz, an open source group chat platform that lets humans and AI agents work together across messages, code, and workflows. The move puts Buzz in direct competition with established collaboration tools like Slack and GitHub.
What Buzz offers
Buzz is built as an open source platform, meaning anyone can inspect, modify, and deploy the code. It's designed to blend real-time messaging with code collaboration and automated workflows. The key differentiator is native support for AI agents — bots that can participate in conversations, execute tasks, and interact with code repositories. This isn't just a chat app with a chatbot bolted on; the AI agents are integrated into the core experience, able to trigger actions based on messages or events.
The platform supports threaded conversations, file sharing, and integration with development tools. Because it's open source, teams can self-host or customize it to fit their needs. Block has not announced a hosted version or pricing, but the code is available now.
Competing with Slack and GitHub
Slack dominates workplace messaging, and GitHub is the go-to for code collaboration. Buzz tries to bridge both worlds. Where Slack focuses on communication and GitHub on code, Buzz aims to be a single space where both happen, with AI agents acting as the connective tissue. For example, an AI agent could monitor a code repository for new pull requests, post a summary in a chat channel, and even run tests — all without a human having to switch tools.
Block's timing is notable. Slack has been adding more AI features, and GitHub recently launched Copilot Chat. But Buzz's open source nature could appeal to developers who want control over their data and workflows. It's a bet that the future of collaboration is transparent, programmable, and AI-native.
Open source as a strategy
By releasing Buzz under an open source license, Block is inviting the developer community to contribute. That could accelerate feature development and create an ecosystem of plugins and integrations. It also lowers the barrier for adoption: any team can spin up a Buzz instance without vendor lock-in. Block itself uses Buzz internally, according to the company, which suggests it's already battle-tested.
The open source approach also differentiates Buzz from Slack, which is proprietary, and GitHub, which is owned by Microsoft. For organizations that prioritize data sovereignty or want to avoid subscription fees, Buzz offers an alternative. But it also means Block won't directly control the user experience or monetization — at least not initially.
Whether Buzz can gain traction against entrenched competitors remains an open question. The code is out now, and the community will decide how far it goes.
