IBM posts steepest daily drop since 2000 after Anthropic says AI can modernise COBOL

Shares of International Business Machines recorded their steepest daily drop in more than 25 years on Monday, after AI startup Anthropic said its Claude Code tool could be used to modernise a ‌programming ⁠language run on ⁠IBM systems.

IBM shares sank 13.2%, their biggest drop since October 18, 2000.

COBOL is a programming language widely used on IBM mainframes across banking, insurance and government systems.

“Modernizing a COBOL system once required armies of consultants ⁠spending years ‌mapping workflows. Tools like Claude Code can automate the exploration and analysis ⁠phases that consume most of the effort in COBOL modernization,” Anthropic said in a blog post on Monday.