Programming is no longer a barrier! Claude Code is going viral, approaching the sensation of ChatGPT’s debut.

Anthropic's Claude Code is sparking a wave of AI application frenzy, with its impact compared by industry insiders to the debut of generative AI. This AI programming tool allows non-technical users to easily build software, reshaping people's perception of the boundaries of artificial intelligence.

According to a Wall Street Journal report on Saturday, the latest version of Claude Code, Claude Opus 4.5, has shown astonishing capabilities. Vercel's CTO Malte Ubl said, he used the tool to complete a complex project in one week that would have otherwise taken a year, and many users have shared on social media their experiences of successfully developing their first software despite never having learned programming before.

This craze has already spread beyond programmer circles. Users are using Claude Code to analyze health data, organize expense reports, restore damaged wedding photos, and even monitor tomato plant growth. Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke stated on X that he used it to develop software to analyze his own MRI scans.

Market data shows that Claude's web audience more than doubled year-over-year in December. As of last month, its global desktop daily active users increased by 12% year-over-year, according to market intelligence firms Similarweb and Sensor Tower.

"One week to finish a year's work": AI programming ability shakes the industry

Many software engineers had a "Claude party" over the holidays, testing Claude Opus 4.5 in the desktop programming tool Claude Code. While tech companies have used AI to write code in workflows for years—previous models were often likened to junior software developers—discussion surrounding Claude's newest version is entirely different.

Ubl from Vercel spent 10 hours each day during the holiday building new software, saying each run gave him a burst of endorphins akin to playing slot machines in Las Vegas. Andrew Duca, CEO of crypto tax platform Awaken Tax, who has been programming since middle school, said: "It's amazing and scary. I spent a lifetime building this skill, only for Claude Code to do it instantly."

Duca had originally planned to hire new software engineers for his company, but now has decided not to. He believes Claude Code has increased his productivity fivefold. Some users described a sense of awe, followed by sadness—realizing that the program can easily replicate the expertise they've accumulated over their entire careers.

Unlike most currently popular applications or web chatbots, Claude Code can run autonomously, accessing user files, web browsers, and other applications extensively. Although technical experts have long predicted the arrival of the AI "agent" era, capable of doing almost anything for humans, progress toward this future has been slow. For many users, using Claude Code was their first time engaging with such AI, giving them an initial glimpse of what the future could look like.

From programmer tool to universal application: AI's boundaries keep expanding

Claude Code lead Boris Cherny said that some users "connected it to a camera to observe the growth of their tomato plants." "It's completely different from previous AI." Because so many non-programmers are trying it, Cherny and his team decided to launch a variant called Cowork. Unlike the core application's MS-DOS style "command line" interface, Cowork has a friendlier graphical user interface. They built the product in about 10 days—with Claude Code itself being used.

Anthropic is expected to go public this year and has long focused on AI programming mastery, followed by "tool use" ability—where the AI uses different software with limited human intervention. Most benchmark tests have long recognized it as the best programming model, and according to benchmarks maintained by UC Berkeley researchers, it is also a leading model for tool use.

Anthropic often shares the spotlight with OpenAI. Both leading AI model startups lose billions of dollars, but they focus on different markets. OpenAI has a wider global consumer user base, with far more total users than Anthropic, whereas Anthropic focuses on enterprise clients. According to Menlo Ventures, by mid-2025 Anthropic will have a larger share of enterprise users.

David Hsu, CEO of enterprise AI startup Retool, said: "The bigger story will be what happens when this goes beyond software engineering." Software engineers only make up a small portion of the U.S. workforce. "How far can it go?"

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