{"slug": "openai-s-new-release-turns-a-bad-week-ugly-for-software-stocks", "title": "OpenAI's new release turns a bad week ugly for software stocks", "summary": "OpenAI's new product Presence, which enables AI agents with guardrails and policies for enterprise use, sent software stocks tumbling on Wednesday and Thursday, with Workday (-9.9%), Atlassian (-11.8%), HubSpot (-12.7%), Salesforce (-7.7%), and Okta (-4.2%) all declining. TD Cowen analysts cited the announcement as a major reason for a 3% sell-off in the IGV software index, noting that Presence packages LLM reasoning, data access, and governance in a way that directly competes with SaaS vendors.", "body_md": "OpenAI just handed [software stocks a beating](https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-saas-attack-hubspot-salesforce-docusign-zoominfo-2025-9) with its latest push into enterprise work.\n\nAfter the company revealed a new product on Wednesday meant to make AI agents more effective for customers, [software stocks](https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-challenges-saas-giants-analyst-survive-twilio-atlassian-navan-2026-5) like Workday, Atlassian, and HubSpot tumbled.\n\nThe product, called Presence, ramps up OpenAI's competition with established software vendors. As Business Insider [first reported](https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-presence-corporate-software-customer-service-sales-2026-7), the tool lets companies create guardrails, permissions, and policies around how AI agents use company data. It's meant to automate work in customer support, sales, internal processes, and other areas.\n\nThe release is part of OpenAI's broader strategy to [build software capabilities](https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-enters-legal-ai-race-hires-jason-boehmig-2026-7) and governance on top of its AI models. It pushes OpenAI further into the SaaS, or software-as-a-service, market, where established companies have been on edge about the impacts of AI coding tools and AI agents.\n\nStocks in the sector fell on Wednesday and Thursday — already a tough stretch amid an oil price surge, rising bond yields, and worrying [Big Tech earnings](https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-q2-earnings-updates-tsla-stock-elon-musk-spacex-2026-7).\n\nSince Wednesday morning, share prices have dropped for Workday (-9.9%), Atlassian (-11.8%), HubSpot (-12.7%), Salesforce (-7.7%), and Okta (-4.2%).\n\nIn a note to investors, TD Cowen analysts wrote that the Presence announcement was likely a \"major reason\" for a 3% sell-off in the [IGV software index](https://www.businessinsider.com/saaspocalypse-over-software-stocks-stage-huge-ai-rebound-snowflake-nvidia-2026-6) on Wednesday and further declines on Thursday.\n\n\"Presence is being marketed with much of the AI Agent capabilities that SaaS vendors pitch, including packaging LLM reasoning + data access + governance/policy control,\" the analysts wrote.\n\nDerrick Wood, a tech analyst from the TD Cowen team, told Business Insider that among the business applications companies that overlap with Presence, he sees the customer service and sales fields as particularly exposed.\n\nWood pointed back to early October for precedent, when a series of blog posts from OpenAI showcased internal AI tools. The tools resembled [SaaS offerings,](https://www.businessinsider.com/winners-losers-ai-software-shakeout-2025-8) and OpenAI's posts sent software stocks like HubSpot, DocuSign, and ZoomInfo reeling.\n\nAt the time, TD Cowen analysts wrote that the reaction was overblown, but noted, \"days like this remind investors of how much concern there is in the market around 'AI eating software'.\"\n\nOpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.\n\n*Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at *__scouncil@insider.com__*, or over text, Signal, Telegram, or WhatsApp at 415-757-8198. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; ***here's our guide*** to sharing information securely.*", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-s-new-release-turns-a-bad-week-ugly-for-software-stocks", "canonical_source": "https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-release-turns-a-bad-week-ugly-for-software-stocks-2026-7", "published_at": "2026-07-23 22:14:12+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-23 22:23:30.601231+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-agents", "ai-products", "ai-startups"], "entities": ["OpenAI", "Workday", "Atlassian", "HubSpot", "Salesforce", "Okta", "TD Cowen", "Derrick Wood"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-s-new-release-turns-a-bad-week-ugly-for-software-stocks", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-s-new-release-turns-a-bad-week-ugly-for-software-stocks.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-s-new-release-turns-a-bad-week-ugly-for-software-stocks.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-s-new-release-turns-a-bad-week-ugly-for-software-stocks.jsonld"}}