Global Software Stocks Plunge As Jensen Huang Rejects Claim That AI Will Replace Software
On Tuesday U.S. Eastern Time, amid a broad sell‑off in global software equities, Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang publicly dismissed concerns that artificial intelligence could supplant software and related tools, describing such assertions as illogical.
Last week’s release of an upgraded chatbot by AI developer Anthropic intensified market anxiety that AI might upend traditional software business models, and by Wednesday the sell‑off had spread across markets from India to Japan and Hong Kong. Speaking at an artificial intelligence conference hosted by Cisco Systems in San Francisco, Huang argued that AI systems are intended to operate in concert with existing software tools rather than to replace them wholesale. He maintained that the notion AI will render software companies less relevant is fundamentally flawed, because AI will continue to rely on established software rather than rebuild core tools from scratch. Huang observed that whether human or machine, the rational choice is to use tools rather than reinvent them, and he noted that recent AI breakthroughs are focused on more effective tool utilization because tools are explicitly designed for that purpose. He emphasized that software tools, by design, support complex workflows and therefore will remain integral components of advanced AI ecosystems.
The equity rout in software stocks extended into Asian markets following heavy losses in the United States. Overnight declines in U.S. software names included a 13% drop for London Stock Exchange Group, a 16% plunge for Thomson Reuters, a 12% fall for CS Disco Inc., and a 20% slump for LegalZoom.com Inc. On Wednesday the sell‑off reached India most severely, where the Nifty IT Index fell more than 6% and major technology services firms such as Infosys experienced sharp intraday declines of up to 7.3%. Japanese technology and research‑related companies also recorded significant losses, with Recruit Holdings down about 9% and Nomura Research Institute off roughly 8%. In Hong Kong, Kingdee International Software Group shares tumbled more than 13%.
