What does the technology world say about the ‘software industry’s apocalypse’?

Theo Business InsiderWall Street records show that since the beginning of February, the market has had a sell-off, causing the capitalization value of many large technology companies to decrease by more than 1,000 billion USD before recovering slightly. One of the identified causes comes from a series of programming AI tools that are continuously launched at a fast pace and with groundbreaking upgrades, such as Anthropic with Opus 4.6, OpenAI with GPT-5.3-Codex, or previously Microsoft GitHub Copilot X (2026). In that context, technology leaders are divided into many opinions about whether artificial intelligence will bring the programming software business to an end or not.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk believes that AI will progress rapidly and be able to program effectively, making traditional coding no longer necessary. “Things will change, maybe by the end of this year, to the point where you don’t even need to write your own code anymore. AI will directly create binary code,” the billionaire said in a meeting last week with all xAI employees – the artificial intelligence company that just merged with SpaceX in early February.

According to Musk, users simply ask the AI ​​to generate binary code optimized for a specific output, bypassing the traditional programming process and without the need for intermediate steps. “We expect Grok Code to reach its most advanced level in the next 2-3 months. Everything is happening very fast,” he added.

Jensen Huang

According to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, software is a tool for AI to use, not a replacement. Artificial intelligence will use the functions provided by the software instead of inventing its own tools.

“There is a perception that the programming tools sector is in decline and being replaced by AI, clearly shown by the stock prices of many software companies being under great pressure. This is the most absurd thing in the world and time will prove it,” he said during the Cisco AI Summit 2026 event earlier this month.

The head of Nvidia also mentioned “bright spots” in the software field, with Service Now, SAP Software Solutions, Cadence or Synopsis. These are the companies that maintain their appeal by incorporating AI into their tools, showing adaptation as artificial intelligence explodes.

Sam Altman

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman assesses that the software market will “change greatly” when AI explodes. “Certainly this field is not dead, but things are different,” he told TBPN last week. “The way software is created and used will change, but if you want a consistent user experience, there will be things AI can’t do yet.”

With tech business sell-offs taking place in the stock market, Altman said the trend is likely to continue. “I think the situation will remain volatile for a while, as people figure out which direction things will go,” he commented.

Sridhar Vembu

Founder of Indian software company Zoho Sridhar Vembu believes that software as a service (SaaS) will soon be eliminated by AI. SaaS is a model that traditionally relies on human interaction with a user interface (UI). If AI agents perform tasks through APIs or background processes, the advantage of expensive API software packages disappears.

Vembu said that SaaS has long been “vulnerable” due to spending more on sales and marketing rather than focusing on engineering. “Artificial intelligence is the needle that punctures this giant balloon,” Vembu wrote on X, adding that it “asked employees to consider the possibility that the company will go bankrupt” if it does not change to adapt.

Steven Sinofsky

Steven Sinofsky, a core member of Microsoft’s Windows 7 and 8 development team, said AI is changing the way human programmers build software. However, the story of destruction in this area is “meaningless”.

“The idea that a software company will disappear because of some major language model is absurd,” Sinofsky wrote on X.

According to him, it is true that some companies will fail if they do not keep up with AI trends. Such cycles have occurred in the retail and media sectors. However, if you prepare carefully, your business will overcome it more easily. “Be ready,” he insisted. “This is the most exciting period ever for the software and technology business.”

Rene Haas

ARM CEO Rene Haas believes that AI threatening the software sector is an exaggerated story. “In my opinion, the implementation of AI is far from exploiting its full potential value,” he told FT. “The market is falling into minor chaos.”

Last month, he also downplayed the impact of AI on the global economy. According to him, everything is only in the initial stages of implementation, especially when applied to businesses, and cannot have a profound impact.