Appen may be just the first of many ASX dominoes to fall to the AI threat
Software was eating the world. Now AI is eating software - including on the ASX.
Once a darling of the AI boom, Appen may become the technology's first epithet on the ASX, after Google's move cut ties with the Australian company on Monday triggered a 40% slide in its share price.
But analysts warn it might just be the first of many dominos on the local exchange to fall in response to the AI threat.
For the last eight months Appen has been trying to reinvent itself, transforming from a glorified labour hire company to an essential cog in the AI supply chain. It was aiming to do the grunt work for big tech clients, cleaning the data that was to be fed into their AI models.
That ambitious vision of CEO Armughan Ahmad may have always creaked but over the weekend, the wheels appeared to come off completely. Google informed Appen management it would no longer require the company’s services, striking an $83 million hole to Appen’s annual revenue.
