Global stock markets saw sharp turbulence on Tuesday as shares of many software companies fell heavily, driven by fresh fears about how fast AI is reshaping the industry. Several experts pointed to one catalyst: Anthropic, the AI company behind Claude, which recently unveiled a new plugin (extension) for its chatbot.
What happened next was immediate. Investors rushed to sell software names, and roughly $300 billion in market value evaporated in a single day. In financial circles, some even floated a new nickname for the moment: “SaaSpocalypse.”
What are Claude and Anthropic?
Claude is the AI system developed by the American company Anthropic. It is a large language model—often described as a GPT (generative pre-trained transformer).
Anthropic PBC was founded by former OpenAI employees, making Claude a direct competitor to ChatGPT. Like OpenAI, Anthropic is not yet listed on the stock market, although IPO expectations have been mentioned for both companies this year. Even so, Claude is already exerting noticeable influence on financial markets.
What did Anthropic launch with Claude?
On Tuesday, Anthropic presented a new plugin designed to significantly ease the work of lawyers. The company said the tool can automate legal tasks such as:
- contract checks
- reviewing nondisclosure agreements
- compliance workflows
- legal briefings
- prebuilt responses
Anthropic also stressed an important limitation: the plugin is not legal advice. Any AI-generated analysis must be verified by licensed lawyers before being used as a basis for decisions.
Anthropic is part of a broader wave of AI startups building tools for the legal sector. Its standout claim is developing its own models that can be adapted to the needs of a specific domain—while keeping Claude positioned as accessible and easy to use.
Why did this spook the markets?
The potential impact of AI on jobs isn’t just a workplace anxiety—markets have been jittery for months amid the AI boom and the uncertainty it creates.
One key fear: investors and experts increasingly view tools like Claude and its extensions as a direct threat to the traditional software business model, which is largely built on selling per-user licenses.
Software vendors such as Microsoft could face pressure if companies need fewer licenses in the future—or potentially none at all—because AI tools can replace parts of what those licenses are meant to deliver.
“There are fears that the emergence of tools like the one presented by Anthropic could reduce the margins of these data-focused companies to a minimum and, in the worst case, lead to their complete disintermediation.”
— A market expert quoted by The Guardian
How did markets react?
Wall Street had already been showing skepticism toward software stocks in recent weeks, including names such as Microsoft and Adobe. On Tuesday, that skepticism turned—at least temporarily—into panic.
Investors sold aggressively, and nearly $300 billion in market capitalization vanished in a single day. The sell-off initially hit companies providing specialized legal software, then spread to broader software publishers, and finally weighed on the wider tech sector.
Some observers described it as a global selling wave: software shares fell not only in the U.S., but also across Europe—and then Asia.
Which stocks fell the most?
In the United States, software-related names including Adobe, Salesforce, Intuit, ServiceNow, Autodesk, Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft, and Oracle posted drops that in some cases reached double-digit percentages in a single session.
Thomson Reuters, owner of the legal database Westlaw, saw its stock fall by more than 18% on Tuesday.
The Nasdaq briefly fell by nearly 2% before closing the day down 1.5%.
In Europe, the picture was similar: Relx fell 14%, London Stock Exchange Group dropped 13%, and textbook publisher Pearson declined 9.6%.
What happens next?
It’s hard to say. With AI startups proliferating, markets remain extremely nervous. No one truly knows how far the effects of the AI revolution will reach—or which companies will emerge as winners or losers.
In the background, another fear persists: that the current AI boom could still prove to be a bubble.
“This year will be decisive in determining which companies will be among the winners or the losers of AI. The most important skill will be avoiding the losers. Until the situation stabilizes, it is risky to fight the momentum of AI.”
— An expert speaking to Bloomberg
