IBM shares fell 13.2% following an announcement from AI startup Anthropic regarding its new tool, Claude Code. The tool claims to modernize legacy systems written in COBOL, a programming language that remains a cornerstone of IBM’s infrastructure business.
Why COBOL Matters to IBM
Many of IBM’s largest clients—including global banks, retailers, airlines, and government agencies—continue to run critical operations on COBOL. Traditionally, IBM has managed these legacy environments, which are difficult and expensive to update.
The Impact of AI Modernization
According to report by CNBC, Anthropic’s Claude Code aims to solve two major industry pain points:
- The Talent Gap: The number of developers proficient in COBOL is rapidly shrinking.
- Cost and Speed: Manual modernization by human analysts typically takes months and involves high costs to decipher and rewrite legacy code.
Anthropic claims its AI can streamline this process, potentially disrupting IBM’s dominant position in maintaining and updating these vital enterprise systems.
