Anthropic shipped Claude Opus 4.6 on February 5, 2026, adding a 1M token context window (beta, up from 200K in Opus 4.5) and agent teams that split large tasks across parallel processes. The model targets knowledge workers who scrutinize codebases, regulatory filings, and large document sets.
The release comes as enterprise software stocks face pressure. The SaaS index dropped 32% year-over-year despite companies meeting forecasts, driven by investor concerns that AI will commoditize specialized tools. Legal and financial data providers are particularly exposed: tools that once commanded premium pricing for document analysis now face competition from foundation models that handle similar tasks at lower marginal cost.
Opus 4.6's 1M token window handles hundreds of pages in a single context, relevant for SEC filing review or regulatory compliance work where analysts previously needed multiple passes through documents. The agent teams feature lets the model parallelize subtasks, reducing bottlenecks in batch processing scenarios like quarterly filing analysis across portfolios.
The model integrates into PowerPoint for direct editing and runs on API, AWS Bedrock, and Google Vertex AI. Anthropic positions Sonnet 4.5 as the balanced option for most enterprise work, reserving Opus for premium tasks requiring maximum scrutiny.
What this means in practice: CTOs evaluating Claude for document-heavy workflows now have more headroom for complex analysis without context window constraints. The question is whether the expanded capabilities justify Opus pricing versus Sonnet for typical enterprise document processing.
Worth noting: no independent verification yet of the "300K+ business users" figure cited in some coverage. The real test comes when enterprises move from pilots to production deployment at scale.
The pattern is familiar: foundation model capabilities improve, specialized software vendors need to prove value above commoditized AI features. History suggests the winners will be tools that wrap AI in workflow integration and domain expertise, not those selling AI access alone.