European data, publishing and legal software companies saw sharp falls in their share prices after AI startup Anthropic unveiled a new legal productivity tool designed to automate a range of professional services.

Anthropic, the company behind the chatbot Claude, said its new Legal Plugin – part of the Claude Cowork suite – could handle tasks including contract reviewing, non-disclosure agreement triage, compliance workflows, legal briefings and templated responses for in-house legal teams.

The announcement rattled investors across Europe, who have traditionally viewed data and professional information groups as beneficiaries of the AI boom.

In London, shares in UK publishing group Pearson fell by nearly 8%, while information and analytics firm Relx plunged 14%. Software company Sage dropped 10%, and Dutch legal software provider Wolters Kluwer lost 13% in Amsterdam. Shares in London Stock Exchange Group declined by 13%, while credit reporting company Experian fell 7%. In the US, Nasdaq-listed Thomson Reuters’ shares plummeted 18%.

The FTSE 100 had reached a record high on Tuesday morning, but the sell-off dragged the index into negative territory.

Anthropic stressed that its plugin does not provide legal advice, saying: “AI-generated analysis should be reviewed by licensed attorneys before being relied upon for legal decisions.” It also announced a number of other open-source tools aimed at automating professional activities such as sales and customer support, giving rise to fears of a ‘SaaSpocaplypse’.

Anthropic was founded in 2021 by Dario Amodei, its chief executive, along with other former OpenAI staff members.

Data and professional information groups have long been considered relatively safe from AI disruption, supported by proprietary databases and trusted brands. That assumption is now being tested, with Anthropic’s move heightening fears that AI models trained on large volumes of public material could replicate tasks traditionally locked behind high-margin platforms.

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The sell-off also mirrors a broader rout in global software shares. Wall Street has been reducing exposure to software firms for months, but sentiment has deteriorated further as new AI tools emerge faster than companies can demonstrate how they will monetise them.

In the US, legal and data groups including Thomson Reuters also came under pressure, while the wider North American software index recorded its steepest monthly fall since the financial crisis.

The market turbulence comes amid wider economic concerns. Research from Morgan Stanley showed the UK is already losing more jobs than it is creating as AI adoption accelerates, with professional services among the most exposed.