Investors fear AI will undercut LexisNexis. The company says it's driving growth.

As the artificial intelligence landscape continues to evolve, LexisNexis finds itself at the center of investor concerns regarding the potential impact of AI on its business. Despite a recent downturn in stock prices, CEO Sean Fitzpatrick asserts that the company’s fundamentals remain strong, driven by its extensive repository of authoritative legal content. Fitzpatrick emphasizes that each advancement in AI technology only strengthens LexisNexis’ market position. "Every time we see a new model, we're actually in a better position," he stated in an interview with Business Insider. In early February, shares of Relx, the parent company of LexisNexis, dropped approximately 14% following the announcement of a new AI plugin by the startup Anthropic, which is designed to draft legal briefs and analyze contracts. Since the beginning of the year, the company's stock has fallen about 17%. However, Fitzpatrick challenges the notion that AI startups can compete with LexisNexis, arguing that their competitors lack access to the proprietary legal documents that LexisNexis has compiled over decades. The company boasts around 200 billion legal documents, with millions added daily, alongside a historical service that has tracked legal precedents since 1873. Crucially, LexisNexis does not license its data to general-purpose AI providers, a stance echoed by Thomson Reuters, another leading legal research software provider. Fitzpatrick points out that while generalized AI tools can assist with legal tasks, they often lack the security and reliability required for critical legal work. He noted that many attorneys have encountered issues with AI-generated inaccuracies in legal filings: "You can't be 'probably' right." Last year, LexisNexis partnered with Harvey, an AI-driven legal software startup, allowing its legal repository to be integrated into the Harvey platform, though users still require a LexisNexis subscription for access. Fitzpatrick acknowledges that not all legal roles depend heavily on traditional research, suggesting that in-house legal teams may benefit from AI tools designed for reviewing contracts and terms. LexisNexis is actively investing in its future, utilizing third-party AI to enhance its products, including its digital legal assistant, Protégé. Fitzpatrick believes the company’s AI offerings, anchored in its legal corpus, provide significant value to clients, contributing to recent reports of 7% revenue growth and a 9% rise in adjusted operating profit for Relx. Despite the market's volatility and the pervasive anxiety surrounding software stocks, Fitzpatrick remains optimistic. He has no plans for layoffs related to AI advancements and is focused on the long-term potential of LexisNexis. "I'm not concerned, not one bit. I haven't sold a share," he confidently stated, suggesting that investor fears will eventually dissipate.