OpenAI freaked out the software industry. Now, it's Anthropic's turn.

"A new wave of announcements from Anthropic this week revived fears that generative AI could undermine the economics of traditional software companies. In a research note published Wednesday, analysts at RBC Capital Markets said a flurry of recent product launches from Anthropic, including new AI tools for productivity and healthcare, has coincided with a broad selloff across the software sector and could deepen concerns that AI is becoming a competitive threat rather than a tailwind."

"On Sunday, Anthropic rolled out Claude for Healthcare & Life Sciences, which includes HIPAA-ready enterprise tools. The next day, it unveiled Claude Cowork, an AI agent that handles document generation and file management. And then on Tuesday, it announced the expansion of Labs, an internal incubator team that tests and showcases experimental AI products. Shares of Salesforce, Workday, Intuit, and Snowflake fell sharply after this barrage of news, losing between 6% and 13%."

"That suggests investors are starting to reassess whether software companies can defend their pricing power as AI capabilities expand, RBC noted. "While headline risk is not new (we saw announcements from OpenAI, Anthropic, etc. cause material intra-day swings in stock prices throughout 2025), we believe the velocity of innovation and announcements from the model providers could continue to weigh on the broader software landscape throughout 2026," RBC analysts wrote."

Anthropic launched several new AI products, including Claude for Healthcare & Life Sciences with HIPAA-ready enterprise tools, Claude Cowork for document generation and file management, and an expanded Labs incubator for experimental products. These launches coincided with a broad selloff across the software sector, with shares of Salesforce, Workday, Intuit, and Snowflake falling between 6% and 13%. Investors are reassessing whether traditional SaaS pricing power can be sustained as generative AI capabilities expand. Advances in productivity and healthcare AI create direct competitive threats to vertical software offerings, potentially undermining recurring subscription economics and increasing headline-driven stock volatility.

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