Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) CEO Dario Amodei says that software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies that don’t evolve with AI could face ruin.
Amodei made his comments as part of a conversation with journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin and JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon during Anthropic’s The Briefing: Financial Services event.
Sorkin initially asked Dimon what would happen to software companies as AI grew, then asked Amodei the same question.
The chief executive responded saying that companies can no longer bank on the complexity of their software as a moat against competitors.
“I think if your moat is ‘Our software is complex and difficult to write, and we can write it, and others can’t match it,’ I think that’s going away,” Amodei said.
CEO of Anthropic Dario Amodei, addresses the gathering at the AI Impact Summit, in New Delhi, India, February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Bhawika Chhabra/File Photo · Reuters / REUTERS
“I don’t know what will happen to the group of today’s SaaS incumbents as a group that’s more indeterminate. I think individual SaaS companies, it’s very possible for them to lose market value, go bankrupt, completely, go bust, but it depends on the response,” he added.
“I think there are incumbents today that are going to see very clearly…the moats here are going away, we’re really going to pivot, and we’ll do better than we did before. And there are others who are not going to pay attention, who are going to be blindsided, and, you know, they’re going to have a really bad time.”
Some analysts, however, say that it’s far more likely that SaaS companies will integrate AI into their services, to ensure they’re able to meet customer demand. Microsoft (MSFT), for instance, provides its AI Copilot across its Microsoft 365 suit, while Google (GOOG, GOOGL) includes Gemini with its Google Workspace.
Other companies have taken similar steps. ServiceNow (NOW), on Tuesday, announced it is launching an AI agent similar to OpenClaw.
But that hasn’t saved the company from the SaaS-ocalypse. ServiceNow stock is down 39% year-to-date, while Snowflake (SNOW) is off 35%. Thomson Reuters (TRI), meanwhile, has fallen 28%.
Microsoft is also facing headwinds from the software selloff, as well as questions about its ability to meet customer demand for AI computing capacity. The company’s stock price is down 15% since the start of the year.
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