OMAHA, Nebraska – Warren Buffett warned the tens of thousands of shareholders who crowded an arena for his annual meeting that AI frauds might become “the growth industry of all time.”
Doubling down on his warnings from last year, Buffett informed the crowd that he had just encountered the disadvantages of artificial intelligence. And it looked and sounded exactly like him. Someone created a phony film of Buffett, which appeared to be convincing enough that the so-called Oracle of Omaha admitted he could imagine it deceiving him into moving money offshore.
The wealthy investing guru predicted that crooks will grasp the technology and cause more harm than good.
“As someone who doesn’t understand a damn thing about it, it has enormous potential for good and enormous potential for harm and I just don’t know how that plays out,” he was quoted as saying.
Warren Buffett Says AI May Be Better For Scammers Than Society. And He’s Seen How
The day began early Saturday with Berkshire Hathaway reporting a significant decline in earnings as the paper worth of its investments fell, and it reduced its Apple holdings. In the first quarter, the business posted a $12.7 billion profit, or $8,825 per Class A share, a 64% decrease from $35.5 billion, or $24,377 per A share, the previous year.
However, Buffett advises investors to focus more on the conglomerate’s operating earnings from the companies it actually owns. These increased by 39% to $11.222 billion, or $7,796.47 per Class A share, driven by the success of insurance businesses.
Nothing that got in the way of having fun.
Crowds flocked to the arena to buy Squishmallows of Buffett and former Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, who died last October. The gathering draws investors worldwide and is unlike any other business meeting. Those attending for the first time are motivated by a desire to be here while Buffett, 93, is still alive.
“This is one of the world’s top events for learning about investment. “To learn from the gods of the industry,” said Akshay Bhansali, who traveled from India to Omaha for nearly two days.
Devotees go from all over the world to gather pearls of wisdom from Buffett, who memorably nicknamed the event ‘Woodstock for Capitalists.’
However, one missing aspect this year was the first meeting after Munger’s death.
The gathering began with a video homage featuring some of his most famous statements, including the legendary line, “If people weren’t so often wrong, we wouldn’t be so rich.” The movie also included pranks the investors had done with Hollywood celebs over the years, including a “Desperate Housewives” spoof in which one of the women introduced Munger as her lover and another in which actress Jaimie Lee Curtis swooned over him.
Warren Buffett Says AI May Be Better For Scammers Than Society. And He’s Seen How
As the film ended, the arena erupted in a sustained standing ovation for Munger, whom Buffett referred to as “the architect of Berkshire Hathaway.”
Buffett stated that Munger remained curious about the world until his death at 99, throwing dinner parties, meeting with people, and making regular Zoom calls.
“Like his hero Ben Franklin, Charlie wanted to understand everything,” Buffett said.
For decades, Munger and Buffett served as a legendary comic pair, with Buffett providing lengthy setups to Munger’s sharp one-liners. He once called unproven internet startups “turds.”
Together, they transformed Berkshire from a struggling textile mill into a vast conglomerate of diverse interests, from insurance companies such as Geico to the BNSF railroad, many major utilities, and a slew of other businesses.
Munger frequently described the key to Berkshire’s success as “trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.” He and Buffett were also recognized for sticking to businesses that they knew well.
“Warren would always do at least 80% of the talking. But Charlie made an excellent foil,” said Stansberry Research analyst Whitney Tilson, who was looking forward to his 27th consecutive meeting.
Munger’s absence, however, allowed shareholders to get to know the two executives who directly supervise Berkshire’s companies: Ajit Jain, who runs the insurance operations, and Abel, who handles everything else and has been anointed Buffett’s successor. This year, they performed alongside Buffett on the main stage.
When Buffett initially asked Abel a question, he accidentally said, “Charlie?” Abel shrugged off the error and delved into the issues that utilities face due to the increasing risk of wildfires and certain regulators’ unwillingness to allow them to make a respectable profit.
Morningstar analyst Greggory Warren says Abel spoke up more on Saturday, allowing shareholders to see some genius Berkshire management boasts about.
Abel twisted Munger’s famed “I have nothing to add” statement by frequently beginning his answers Saturday with “The only thing I would add.”
Warren Buffett Says AI May Be Better For Scammers Than Society. And He’s Seen How
“Greg’s a rock star,” stated Chris Bloomstran, head of Semper Augustus Investment Group. The bench is deep. He won’t be in the same mood at the meeting, but I believe we all come here every year as a reminder to remain logical.”
Buffett made it obvious that Abel would be Berkshire’s next CEO, but he stated on Saturday that he had altered his mind about how the company’s investment portfolio should be managed. He has previously stated that it would fall to two investment managers who now control tiny portions of the fund. On Saturday, Buffett approved Abel for the position, which includes managing the running businesses and potential acquisitions.
“He understands the business well. “If you understand business, you understand common stocks,” Buffett stated. The board will ultimately decide, but the billionaire has threatened to come back and haunt them if they try something different.
Buffett believes Berkshire’s arrangement of having all non-insurance companies report to Abel, and insurers report to Jain is effective. He no longer receives many calls from management since they rely on Abel and Jain for assistance.
“This place would work extremely well the next day if something happened to me,” Buffett stated in an interview.
SOURCE – (AP)
