Salesforce and ServiceNow Fall as AI Automation Fears Hit Software Sector
The launch of Anthropic's Claude Cowork AI plugins has triggered a significant sell-off in the software sector, leading to substantial losses for major companies like Thomson Reuters, Salesforce, and ServiceNow. The panic was fueled by fears of AI automation disrupting traditional business models, particularly in legal and analytics services, resulting in a $300 billion drop in software stock values. Analysts suggest that the market reaction may be overblown, as larger companies are likely to adapt to these technological changes.
TLDR Anthropic’s Claude Cowork AI plugins launched Friday, automating legal, sales, marketing, and data tasks, causing immediate stock market panic Thomson Reuters crashed 18% on Tuesday, its worst day ever, while RELX dropped 14% and Wolters Kluwer fell 13% Salesforce and ServiceNow each lost over 9% for the week as software stocks shed $300 billion in value Advertising stocks tumbled with Omnicom down 11.2%, Publicis down 9%, Pinterest down 5.6%, and Snap down 8.4% Invesco strategist Brian Levitt called the sell-off overdone, saying larger software companies will adapt to AI changes Anthropic released new Claude Cowork automation plugins on Friday, sparking panic selling across software and analytics companies. The AI tools automate legal research, sales tasks, marketing work, and data analysis that businesses have traditionally paid high prices to access. Anthropic released a new plugin for Claude Cowork that can track compliance and review legal documents. The update didn't make much noise outside the legal industry when it launched Friday, but it triggered a sell-off in legal software and publishing stocks. Wolters Kluwer… pic.twitter.com/lV1qym2G1w — Hedgie (@HedgieMarkets) February 4, 2026 Software stocks crashed on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday last week. Investors rushed to reprice companies facing potential AI disruption. Thomson Reuters suffered an 18% loss on Tuesday, tracking toward its worst single-day decline in company history. The firm owns Westlaw, a leading legal database used by law firms. Thomson Reuters stock has dropped 33% year-to-date following a 22% decline in 2025. The company reports fourth quarter earnings Thursday. Mike Archibald from AGF Investments said Anthropic’s plugins directly threaten Thomson Reuters’ legal business. Markets often react to perceived threats before fully analyzing the impact. Legal Firms and Professional Services Crushed European legal companies experienced steep losses. RELX, a British legal analytics firm...
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