A new artificial intelligence system from US company Anthropic triggered a massive selloff in global technology markets on Wednesday, wiping out approximately $300 billion in market value. Indian IT stocks bore the brunt, with Infosys plunging nearly 8 percent, TCS dropping 6.46 percent, and HCL Technologies falling 5.76 percent. The Nifty IT index lost around 3 percent as Wall Street’s tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.4 percent.
What is Anthropic
Anthropic is a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence startup founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei. The unlisted company is widely known for its Claude AI model, which competes with ChatGPT and other conversational AI systems. Anthropic positions itself as dedicated to building reliable AI systems and researching both opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence.
What the company launched
Anthropic introduced 11 new plug-ins for its Claude Cowork agent designed to autonomously handle complex, multi-step professional work. The system marks a shift from traditional chatbots that simply answer questions to AI that actually performs work itself. The workplace suite can process large volumes of documents, interpret and cross-verify information, produce structured outputs, and adjust its strategy as tasks evolve.
The AI performs functions across legal research, contract review, compliance monitoring, sales, marketing, and data analysis without human intervention. It can design a plan, carry it out, and validate results independently. Tasks that previously required dedicated software tools or teams of junior staff can now be automated through a single AI interface.
Why markets panicked
The announcement sent shockwaves through global markets. Adobe lost 7.31 percent, Cognizant plummeted 10.14 percent, Thomson Reuters crashed 15.67 percent, and Gartner tumbled 20.87 percent. Investment bank Jefferies termed the episode a “SaaSpocalypse,” referring to Software-as-a-Service companies facing potential obsolescence.
Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research at HDFC Securities, explained that software stocks extended losses as the launch intensified worries about future revenue streams. The software industry has thrived on selling narrowly focused tools including legal research platforms, compliance software, and data-analysis dashboards. Anthropic’s release suggests a single AI system may replicate many of these functions, eliminating the need for multiple high-priced software subscriptions.
The Claude Cowork agent can directly perform tasks that previously required human workers to use platforms like Salesforce or ServiceNow. Instead of assisting employees, the AI bypasses those platforms entirely and completes the work independently.
Impact on Indian IT
Indian IT companies face severe implications. Their business model depends on providing services like data processing, contract analysis, and compliance monitoring that AI tools can now potentially automate. The Economic Survey 2025-26 warned that this “risks hollowing out India’s core value proposition if adaptation lags.”
Industries that bill by the hour also face disruption. Legal research, compliance checks, and financial analysis are precisely the tasks this AI generation excels at performing.
Dario Amodei defended the launch, stating that startups are among Anthropic’s most important customers and that the company works with tens of thousands of them.
The selloff represents a dramatic reversal. For two years, investors viewed AI as a productivity enhancer. Now a different narrative has emerged, with AI shifting from opportunity to existential threat for traditional software and IT services companies.
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