April 20 (Reuters) - Adobe launched a suite of artificial intelligence tools on Monday to help its corporate customers automate and personalize digital marketing functions, in an effort to counter competition from tools offered by startups such as Anthropic.

A sell-off in software stocks is adding to the pressure on companies like Adobe and its peers, as investors assess the threat posed by Anthropic and OpenAI's offerings to automate an increasing number of human tasks using artificial intelligence tools.

Adobe shares rose 2.2 percent in early trading. The stock is down about 30 percent since the start of the year.

Adobe stated that the new group, which it named CX Enterprise, uses artificial intelligence assistance programs to help companies manage how they interact with customers.

The design software manufacturer is collaborating with a number of technology companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, Anthropic, OpenAI and Nvidia, to ensure its new AI system works across different platforms.

On Friday, Anthropic unveiled Cloud Design, an experimental feature that allows users to create visual elements such as prototypes, slide sets, and one-page documents using its chatbot.