AI concerns wipe out over Rs 2 lakh crore m-cap from top IT stocks

IT stocks

• India's top IT firms lost nearly Rs 2 lakh crore in value amid AI concerns.
• Anthropic's new AI automation tool triggered a global selloff in tech stocks
• TCS, Infosys, HCL, Tech Mahindra, and Wipro saw major market cap erosion

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India’s top information technology firms lost over Rs 2 lakh crore in market capitalisation amid growing concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence, with worries intensifying after Anthropic launched new workplace productivity and automation tools.

Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest software exporter, saw its m-cap erode by nearly Rs 70,481 crore, the biggest loss among domestic IT firms. Infosys followed, shedding over Rs 54,000 crore in market value, while HCL Technologies lost about Rs 26,800 crore. Tech Mahindra and Wipro each saw m-cap erosion of Rs 10,500 crore on February 4.

The selloff came amid a broader global rout triggered by a new AI automation tool from Anthropic PBC, which sparked a $285 billion decline across software, financial services and asset management stocks on Tuesday. Investors rushed to exit shares with even marginal exposure to automation risk.

In the US, a Goldman Sachs basket of software stocks sank 6 percent, marking its biggest single-day fall since April’s tariff-driven selloff. An index tracking financial services firms dropped nearly 7 percent, while the Nasdaq 100 Index fell as much as 2.4 percent at one point before paring losses to about 1.6 percent.

The selloff began even before US markets opened, with traders pointing to a release on Anthropic’s website as the trigger for sharp declines in shares of Experian, RELX and London Stock Exchange Group.

Investor anxiety escalated after Anthropic expanded its enterprise AI assistant by adding an automation layer capable of handling entire business workflows. The development prompted a reassessment of whether traditional software-as-a-service platforms will remain critical as AI tools increasingly perform complex tasks independently. Investors are also concerned that AI-driven automation could reduce demand for outsourced business processes and enterprise software customisation.

Anthropic’s move places it in more direct competition with legal AI startups such as Harvey AI and Legora. Unlike many rivals, Anthropic builds its own AI models, allowing for tighter control over automation depth and faster deployment across enterprise workflows.

Asia’s broader technology sector showed relative resilience, as it remains dominated by hardware manufacturers, particularly chipmakers, which have been among the primary beneficiaries of the global AI investment boom.

In North America, Thomson Reuters and LegalZoom were among the worst performers, dragging the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF down 4.6 percent. The ETF has now fallen for six consecutive sessions and is coming off a 15 percent drop in January, its worst monthly decline since 2008.