Software Giants Tumble as AI Disruption Fears Mount
Salesforce, Adobe, and ServiceNow have each shed over 30% of their market value since early 2025, with smaller software firms faring even worse. The sector's decline accelerated this month following Anthropic's launch of Claude Code—an AI system capable of dramatically reducing software development time. This has sparked existential concerns about "vibe coding" and AI's potential to RENDER traditional software obsolete.
"The narrative has really shifted," observes RBC Capital Markets analyst Rishi Jaluria. Investors initially viewed AI as a tailwind for software firms but now question whether it represents an extinction-level threat. The coming days may provide clarity as tech heavyweights like Apple, Meta, and Microsoft report earnings.
The downturn marks a remarkable reversal for an industry that dominated Wall Street just years ago. Throughout the 2010s, enterprise software appeared to fulfill Marc Andreessen's famous prophecy that "software is eating the world." Today, that world may be getting digested by AI.