This weekly trading update highlights how artificial intelligence agents are shaking up global markets. An AI company called Anthropic released new AI tools called Claude Cowork that can do jobs that humans usually do, like writing legal documents or analyzing data. This scared investors who worry these AI agents might replace software companies that businesses rely on. As a result, software company stocks dropped 7.5% in value, and traders lost about $1 trillion from tech companies around the world.

The fear spread to markets everywhere. In Australia, the central bank raised interest rates to 3.85%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 3%. In the United States, the Nasdaq technology index dropped 1.9%, while the Dow Jones surprisingly climbed 2.5%. Bitcoin, the famous digital money, tumbled below $70,000. Even big tech companies like Alphabet, Google's parent company, lost money because investors worry about AI disruption—meaning AI replacing traditional jobs and businesses.

The big technology companies are betting huge amounts of money on AI. Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta plan to spend about $600 billion on AI in 2026, which is almost double what they spent in 2025. However, investors are now questioning whether this massive spending will actually make money for these companies. Retail investors—regular people buying stocks—have been buying more, but this week they bought less than usual. Some market experts say this pullback might be temporary and people might start buying again soon, but others worry the tech market could drop even further.