Anthropic AI Tool Sparks Selloff From Software to Broader Market

Feb. 4, 2026, 5:18 AM UTC

A new AI automation tool from Anthropic PBC sparked a $285 billion rout in stocks across the software, financial services and asset management sectors on Tuesday as investors raced to dump shares with even the slightest exposure.

A Goldman Sachs basket of US software stocks sank 6%, its biggest one-day decline since April’s tariff-fueled selloff, while an index of financial services firms tumbled almost 7%. The Nasdaq 100 Index fell as much as 2.4% at one point before trimming losses to 1.6%.

The selloff started before the US market opened as traders pointed to a release on the Anthropic website ...

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