A wave of unease has swept through global tech markets following Anthropic’s release of advanced AI tools integrated into its Claude chatbot on February 3, 2026. Dubbed Claude Cowork plugins, these features target specialized workflows in legal, finance, sales, marketing, and customer support, automating tasks like document review, contract triage, compliance tracking, and NDA prioritization. Investors fear these agentic capabilities—where AI plans, executes, and iterates on multi-step processes—could directly challenge seat-based software models, sparking sharp declines across affected sectors.
The selloff intensified amid a broader market rotation from high-valuation tech, erasing up to $1 trillion in value by February 4. A Goldman Sachs US software basket plunged 6% on Tuesday—its worst day since April—while financial services indices tumbled nearly 7%, dragging the Nasdaq 100 down 2.4% intraday before a partial rebound. Traders pointed to Anthropic’s website announcement as the catalyst, with pre-market drops hitting even before US trading opened.
Claude Cowork: Features and Legal Focus
Claude Cowork builds on Anthropic’s January launch of an agentic coding tool, extending it to no-code, desktop-accessible automation for white-collar roles. The legal plugin stands out: users upload batches of documents (e.g., 20 NDAs), set parameters like jurisdiction checks or indemnity flags, and the AI delivers prioritised summaries in minutes—slashing review time from hours to a fraction.
Anthropic positions it as a supportive “digital paralegal,” explicitly warning that it offers no legal advice and requires attorney oversight to mitigate hallucinations or errors. It connects via Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers to tools like Google Drive, pulling from past templates for privacy impact assessments or brief drafting. Benchmarks suggest speed and scale advantages over junior staff or legacy software, fueling substitution panic despite safety guardrails.
Plugins for other areas amplify breadth: finance handles compliance; sales automates lead qualification; marketing generates ad variants. This “model + wrapper + workflow” bundling bypasses third-party vendors, positioning frontier AI firms as direct competitors.
Detailed Stock Market Impact
Legal and data giants suffered most acutely. Thomson Reuters cratered 16% on Tuesday before a 2% dip on Wednesday, as AI eyes its Westlaw legal research core; RELX (LexisNexis owner) shed 3-15%; Wolters Kluwer lost 1-13%; CS Disco tumbled 12%. Broader software felt ripples: Oracle -4.2%, Salesforce -3.3%, Adobe -2.6%, Intuit -4.8%, HubSpot -6%, CrowdStrike -6.6%.
Global contagion hit hard: India’s Nifty IT index plunged 5.8%, TCS down ~7%, Infosys -2.4%; Japan’s NEC -8.7%. Private credit funders like Blue Owl Capital (-13%, record), Ares Management (-10.2%), and KKR (-9.7%) reeled from software exposure. ETFs such as iShares Expanded Tech-Software fell 4-4.4%, entering bear territory after a 20% yearly slide.
Even AI enablers dipped: Nvidia -9% weekly, Broadcom -7%, AMD down amid recalibrations on compute demand if software thins. London-listed firms like Experian and London Stock Exchange Group saw pre-market plunges tied to data/legal overlaps.
| Sector/Company | Tuesday Decline | Weekly Impact | Vulnerability Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomson Reuters | -16% | Sharp recovery partial | Legal research core threatened |
| RELX (LexisNexis) | -3-15% | Ongoing pressure | Document analysis automation |
| TCS (India IT) | -7% | Nifty IT -5.8% | Offshore legal/finance services |
| Oracle/Salesforce | -3-4% | Sector -4% | Enterprise workflow tools |
| Blue Owl Capital | -13% | Record intraday | Software financing exposure |
Expert Perspectives and Pushback
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang rebutted fears at Cisco’s AI Summit, calling AI supplanting software “the most illogical thing in the world—time will prove it.” He argued AI thrives by wielding tools like ServiceNow, SAP, Cadence, Synopsys, not reinventing them, preserving software as AI infrastructure.
Analysts see a mix: headline-driven overreaction plus valid disruption risks, as AI velocity outpaces 3-5 year forecasts. Incumbents race to embed models, but pricing power erodes for routine tasks. Legal tech observers warn of a “pivotal moment,” with foundations like Anthropic commoditizing wrappers once exclusive to vendors.
Regulatory and Long-Term Shifts
Regulators eye AI in regulated fields: bias in legal triage, accountability for errors, HIPAA-like standards. Europe’s data firms like Pearson dipped on similar fears.
Long-term, agile firms integrating AI may thrive, shifting focus to strategy over drudgery. The rout signals maturation—software must evolve or niche down amid AI’s enterprise revenue chase. Yet Huang’s optimism hints at symbiosis, not slaughter, if the history of tech waves holds.
