Does AI mean the downfall of REA Group and Car Group?

There has been a broad sell-off in Australian technology stocks, sparked by the idea that artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly undermining the business models of some of our most successful major companies.

REA Group Ltd (ASX: REA) and CAR Group Ltd (ASX: CAR) were not spared from the sell-off, with shares of both companies trending significantly lower over the last three months.

AI, the great unknown

So on what basis are they sold?

Wilsons Advisory has looked into what they call “AI fear trading” and believes the doom and gloom surrounding these particular stocks may be overblown.

First, they explain that recent developments in AI models, such as Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.6, “have shown a growing ability to automate coding, workflows and business tasks.”

They further explain:

This has raised concerns among software companies that established software providers could be displaced by internal AI-driven solutions as well as new…