The annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway was held on Saturday, nicknamed “Woodstock for Capitalists,” where Warren Buffett talked to a hall full of shareholders. The Chairman and CEO Buffett told shareholders that artificial intelligence scamming could be the next largest “growth industry of all time.”
AI scams could be the next growth industry
Buffett reiterated his warning as he told the crowd that someone made a fake video that was so convincing that he thought it would trick him into sending money to another country. The billionaire investing mentor predicted that scammers will take advantage of the technology and may do more harm than good. He said,
“It has enormous potential for good and enormous potential for harm, and I just don’t know how that plays out.”
Source: AP.
He highlighted the potential of the technology for scammers and said that they can produce images that he can’t tell from the real. Speaking of the deep roots of scamming in society, he told investors that,
“I mean, scamming has always been part of the American scene, but this would make me think that if I were interested in investing in scamming, it’s going to be the fastest-growing industry of all time.”
Source: CNBC.
He mentioned AI’s potential of change as that of the nuclear weapons, he said he don’t know much about AI but he knows when we developed nuclear weapons it was like we let the genie out of the bottle and that genie has been doing some bad things lately, and it scares him when he thinks about the power of that genie. He said AI is similar, and he has no idea how to get that thing back in the bottle.
Warren Buffett is ready to hand over to Greg Abel
Since it was the first meeting after the passing of Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, who died last year, the meeting started with a video tribute. The videos showed some skits with Hollywood actors and some of his famous quotes, including this one:
“If people weren’t so often wrong, we wouldn’t be so rich.”
Buffett and Munger worked together for decades, and Munger’s witty sense of humor was always appreciated.
Buffett also spoke briefly about his succession plans and mentioned that his advancing age is his concern, despite the fact that he still feels good and wants to work. He has already decided on Greg Abel, who was present at the event and is Vice Chairman of Non-Insurance Operations, as the next Berkshire CEO. Buffett will turn 94 this year, but it could be a concern for investors if the Berkshire stock value remains the same when Buffett is not making the investment decisions.
Buffett said,
“I shouldn’t be taking on any four-year employment contracts like several people are doing in this world at an age when you can’t be quite that sure where you’re going to be in four years.”
Source: CNBC.
Speaking of earnings, Berkshire Hathaway reported a steep drop in earnings as it came up with a profit of $12.7 billion, which is $8.825 per Class A share for the quarter, and this is nearly one-third of the previous year. But Buffett said that investors should focus on the company’s operating profits, which increased by 39% to $11.222 billion. Berkshire has also trimmed down its Apple stake by 13%, but it still remains the biggest part of Berkshire’s $364 billion portfolio.
Buffet said he thinks that things will remain even when Greg Abel takes his place in Berkshire.