LONDON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - ‌A planned $600 billion artificial intelligence spending splurge by big tech firms in 2026 is adding to investor unease ‌as they assess the implications for profitability as well as a potential existential threat to software firms. Meanwhile, shares in data analytics firms continued to come under selling pressure on concerns that they face an existential threat from powerful new ‍AI models. Although analysts said the stock market selloff has been overdone, investors remain ‌cautious. JOLT TO DATA ANALYTICS FIRMSA selloff in software and data and analytics firms was triggered by a ‍new plug-in from Anthropic's Claude. Investor nerves over potential AI‑driven disruption are coinciding with a ‌growing tendency to punish big tech firms for signaling even heavier spending on the technology.

Source: The Star February 06, 2026 17:09 UTC