Warren Buffett has joined the ranks of critics of artificial intelligence. The legendary investor draws parallels to the development of the atomic bomb.
The Berkshire Hathaway Annual General Meeting has long had the character of a folk festival. When Berkshire boss Warren Buffett, who is adored by his fans like a pop star, makes his grand entrance, tens of thousands of shareholders are drawn to Omaha, Nebraska, for the “Woodstock of capitalism”.
When two wise old men give advice
“Charlie Munger is 99. I just wanted to see him in person. It’s on my list of things I want to do,” said one visitor, Sheraton Wu from Vancouver. Many years ago, Buffett joked that he held the general meetings together with his partner Munger because one could see reasonably well and the other could still hear something.
This weekend, too, the chance to experience the two grand old men of the financial world once again attracted people from all over the world. But this time, despite his usual witty nature, Buffett wasn’t in the mood to joke.
Buffett sees AI analogies to the atomic bomb
At the shareholders’ meeting, the 93-year-old immediately joined the ranks of business personalities who were concerned about the recent rapid developments in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). The “Oracle of Omaha” even compared AI with the development of the atomic bomb. “When something can do all sorts of things, it worries me a little bit,” Buffett explained.
“Because I know we’re not going to be able to undo that invention, and you know that for very, very good reasons we developed the atomic bomb in World War II.” This was extremely important. “But is it good for the world for the next two hundred years that we have unleashed this ability?”
Munger is a fan of ‘old-fashioned intelligence’
Given that Buffett has been an opponent of nuclear weapons for years, his comparison gains additional poignancy. Artificial intelligence can change everything in the world – “except the way people think and behave,” Buffett said. He was paraphrasing a quote from Albert Einstein about the atomic bomb, which originally went like this: “The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything except our way of thinking.”
The legendary investor is absolutely aware of how much the technology can already achieve today. She can “do incredible things,” Buffett said. A few months ago he tried out the AI chatbot ChatGPT with his friend and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Buffett’s partner Munger was also “skeptical” about the hype about artificial intelligence – and then tried it with a joke: The “old-fashioned intelligence” works pretty well, said the 99-year-old with a wink.
Buffett criticizes communication in the banking crisis
But not only the AI developments, but also the communication in the US regional bank crisis did not please Buffett: Politicians, supervisory authorities and the media got their fat off. The billionaire criticized that those involved had communicated poorly after the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank and thus scared investors.
His investment firm Berkshire Hathaway made a profit of $35.5 billion in the first quarter. Buffett attributed this primarily to gains from stocks like Apple, higher other investment returns, and a recovery in auto insurer Geico.
With the valueinvestment strategy to success
The 92-year-old Buffett has been running Berkshire since 1965. Under his aegis, the company transformed from a troubled textile company into a powerful holding company. Buffett’s success is based on an investment strategy that is referred to as a value strategy. The idea behind this is that companies can be found on the stock exchange whose “true values” are currently still slumbering in secret.
Buffett is strongly influenced by the legendary founder of stock analysis, Benjamin Graham, whose lectures at Columbia Business School he attended as an undergraduate. Graham’s The Intelligent Investor is, according to Buffett, “by far the best book ever written on investing.”
The most expensive stock in the world
A look at the value of Berkshire Hathaway stock, which has continued to rise over the years, shows how successful Buffett’s investment strategy really is; For the past ten years alone, there has been an increase of over 600 percent. Because Buffett opposes stock splits, the stock has long been the world’s most expensive stock in nominal terms. Currently, investors have to pay around $492,000 for Berkshire Hathaway A shares, the record high dates from early 2022 and is $544,389.