Anthropic has introduced a series of connectors and plugins for its tool designed for knowledge workers, Claude Cowork. Businesses can now integrate Claude Cowork with Google Drive, Gmail, DocuSign, and FactSet. Recent product launches from Anthropic this year have contributed to significant declines in software and cybersecurity stocks, as these AI tools have the potential to disrupt established business models.
Last month, Anthropic's product, Claude Cowork, which had previously unsettled Wall Street, has now been officially launched more broadly. The AI startup announced on Tuesday a range of connectors and plugins for this tool aimed at knowledge workers, enabling companies to significantly enhance individual employee productivity. Anthropic initially released Claude Cowork last month on a research basis, a move that triggered volatility in software stocks as investors began to confront the disruptive potential of artificial intelligence. The company stated that this update marks Claude Cowork's official transition into a genuine enterprise-grade product. Anthropic announced that, starting Tuesday, organizations can connect Claude Cowork to existing tools, including Google Drive, Gmail, DocuSign, and FactSet. Companies can also deploy customizable plugins in areas such as financial analysis, engineering, and human resources to embed internal knowledge and workflows into the system. "We are working to make it easier to use, so that everyone can get started with it at any time," said Kate Jensen, Head of Anthropic Americas, in an interview with CNBC. Investor sentiment was already tense ahead of this significant release from Anthropic. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF closed down nearly 5% on Monday. The five-year-old company has already found initial success in the enterprise market, with business clients accounting for approximately 80% of its total business volume. However, it is intensifying efforts to fend off increasingly fierce competition from rivals like OpenAI and Alphabet, which are also targeting lucrative corporate contracts. With this Claude Cowork update, Anthropic aims to build on the growth momentum of its existing products, such as its AI coding tool Claude Code, which has seen widespread adoption within enterprises over the past year. "Engineers have already come to rely on Claude Code as an indispensable tool," Jensen said. "We anticipate that every knowledge worker will develop the same reliance on Cowork in the future." The startup was founded in 2021 by a group of researchers and executives from OpenAI. OpenAI's launch of the ChatGPT chatbot in 2022 ignited the global AI boom. Anthropic released its flagship product, Claude, the following year, and its valuation has since soared. Jensen explained that Claude Cowork goes beyond the familiar basic chatbot interface by utilizing internal connectors to access real-time context, allowing employees to experience tangible efficiency gains. "We are truly providing the necessary contextual information, along with the administrative controls that enterprises have always valued, creating a completely different end-user experience."
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