BERLIN

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence tools are roiling global markets and raising concerns about the future of companies in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) sector, as investors react to a wave of new autonomous products.

Market anxiety over what some analysts dubbed a “SaaS-pocalypse” intensified this month after a series of product releases by US firm Anthropic, contributing to steep losses in the software sector.

The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV), which tracks US software companies, fell about 30% in February. At one point last month, roughly $300 billion in market value evaporated from software stocks in a single trading session on Feb. 4.

Anthropic rolled out several new tools, including AI systems for contract review and add-ons targeting finance and customer service. The company also introduced Claude Cowork add-ons designed to operate autonomously within corporate systems, and later launched Claude Code Security, which can scan codebases and patch vulnerabilities.

The announcements coincided with sharp declines in software and cybersecurity stocks. Atlassian fell 35% and Intuit dropped 34% in one session. CrowdStrike, Cloudflare and Okta each slid between 8% and 9% in a single trading day following one of the product launches. IBM posted its largest daily drop since 2000 after a new tool aimed at modernizing legacy code was unveiled, falling 13% in one day and 27% for the month.

OpenAI also introduced a new version of its software development tool, Codex, as competition among AI firms intensified. Analysts at Morgan Stanley described Anthropic’s moves as a sign of escalating rivalry in the sector.

Investors are increasingly questioning whether companies will continue purchasing external software if AI tools allow them to build and automate functions internally. That concern has weighed on established software providers, including Salesforce.

Meta said AI tools boosted productivity per engineer by 30% annually and by 80% for advanced users, underscoring expectations that automation could reshape traditional business models.

Analysts say AI is evolving from a productivity enhancer into a potential replacement for some software-as-a-service models. They argue that companies may increasingly rely on autonomous AI agents instead of buying licenses for specific software applications.

The rapid expansion of AI, led by firms such as OpenAI, Google and Microsoft, has fueled what some analysts describe as an emerging “AI agent economy.”

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella warned at the 56th World Economic Forum in Davos that the AI sector risks becoming a speculative bubble if its gains remain concentrated among large technology firms. He urged broader adoption across industries to unlock productivity gains.

Economists say recent market volatility may reflect panic selling triggered by back-to-back product announcements. Whether AI becomes simply another tool or fundamentally disrupts global labor markets remains uncertain.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim in Istanbul