Catenaa, Wednesday, July 15, 2026- Warren Buffett said he initiated Berkshire Hathaway’s bet on Google parent Alphabet, a sign of the billionaire’s support for the tech company’s spending on AI.
The Berkshire chairman’s successor as chief executive officer, Greg Abel, doesn’t make any decision Buffett doesn’t approve of, and vice versa, Buffett said in a CNBC interview Wednesday.
Buffett said he made a mistake overlooking Alphabet when it was still asset-light and a market darling. He’s now changed his mind, even as the tech firm dramatically boosted its capital expenditures in the race to develop AI products.
“They’re more likely to be a winner based on their record than probably 90% or 95% of what gets merchandised through Wall Street,” Buffett said in the interview.
Berkshire started building a stake in Alphabet last year, and now owns shares worth almost $21 billion as of the market’s close on Tuesday.
The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate also invested $10 billion in a private placement as part of an $80 billion deal to buttress the tech firm’s investments in AI.
While Buffett appears more inclined to invest in tech stocks, the investor still favors other businesses, he said.
“I would say that I don’t like it as well as at least four or five other businesses that we own,” Buffett said.
Moreover, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway said it’s tough to find value in the stock market when everybody is preferring gambling.
He had sharp words on the stock market earlier this year. In May, he likened it to “a church with a casino attached,” specifically calling out the surge in one-day options trading as “gambling.”
The stock market has rallied to all-time highs this year, climbing a wall of worry that included an energy shock from an ongoing war with Iran.
Skeptics have said there’s too much speculation in stocks tied to the artificial intelligence build-out, with vehicles such as options and leveraged exchange-traded funds adding fuel to the fire.
Equities have increasingly attracted retail traders en masse, who are buying shares of memory chipmaker Micron and recent initial public offering SpaceX.
The billionaire investor, 95, known for his stout adherence to value investing, expressed his belief that the most meaningful investment opportunities are fewer and far between, requiring a patient and disciplined approach.
