HK Movers | Software Stocks Sink on Fears AI Will Hit Software Groups

Software stocks sank in Hong Kong, with some investors pointing to a recently updated artificial intelligence chatbot by Anthropic as the main culprit. Kingdee International fell 15%; Inspur Digital Enterprise and Kingsoft fell 7%; Weimob fell 6%; Marketingforce fell 5%.

Once again, artificial intelligence is dominating investors’ attention in the stock market. These days, however, the focus is turning more and more toward companies that may get disrupted by the new technology rather than those who stand to profit from it.

AI developer Anthropic launched plug-ins for its Claude Cowork agent on Friday that would automate tasks across legal, sales, marketing and data analysis. That move has sparked worries of an impending AI-fueled disruption of the data and professional services industry, which were once seen as major beneficiaries of the AI era, according to traders and analysts.

Another Anthropic release in January — of its Claude Cowork tool — boosted jitters for investors who have been monitoring the software sector for AI-related risks to its businesses for months. Other companies have also released products exacerbating the selloff; video-game stocks were caught up in the slide last week after Alphabet began to roll out Project Genie, which can create immersive worlds with text or image prompts.