Greg Abel stepped to the microphone in Omaha this month with a message that cut against the breathless optimism pouring out of Silicon Valley boardrooms. “We’re going to be a builder of technology, rather than just a buyer of technology,” the new Berkshire Hathaway CEO told shareholders at the conglomerate’s annual meeting. He paused. Then came the line that has echoed through investor chats and analyst notes ever since. “It has to be additive to our businesses. We’re not going to have AI just to have AI.”
The remarks landed at a curious moment. Tech giants are on track to spend $700 billion this year on capital expenditures, a sharp jump from $410 billion in 2025, according to multiple reports tracking the Magnificent Seven. Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft lead the charge, each racing to secure dominance in artificial intelligence. Abel, who succeeded Warren Buffett as chief executive at the start of 2026, offered a different script. Restraint. Proof of value. Capital discipline.
And the numbers back his tone. Berkshire reported first-quarter operating earnings of $11.35 billion, an 18 percent increase from a year earlier. The insurance businesses, led by GEICO, delivered stronger underwriting results. BNSF Railway moved 2.408 million cars and units, up 2.2 percent, with better margins from pricing and productivity gains. Cash and short-term investments swelled to a record $397.4 billion. The pile gives Abel firepower. But he has made clear he won’t deploy it chasing trends.
Buffett, now chairman, sat nearby during the meeting. He has long voiced unease about artificial intelligence. In earlier comments he likened the technology to nuclear weapons in its potential for harm. “It’s scary,” he said of deepfakes and broader risks. “We don’t know what’s going to happen.” Abel’s practical focus builds on that skepticism without dismissing the opportunity entirely. Technology, he noted, “touches the whole franchise of Berkshire.”
At BNSF, engineers already apply predictive maintenance tools to track rail conditions and reduce downtime. Insurance units study predictive analytics to sharpen underwriting. Yet these efforts stay grounded. They solve specific problems. They don’t exist to tick a box or impress Wall Street. Abel drove the point home. Capital discipline remains the rule. The company will act decisively when prices reflect genuine dislocation. Not before.
This stance stands in sharp relief against the behavior of big tech leaders. Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Mark Zuckerberg have each committed hundreds of billions toward AI infrastructure. Their rhetoric frames the contest as existential. Fall behind, the argument runs, and you lose the decade. Abel rejects that logic. Use the tools where they improve efficiency, safety or margins. Ignore them where they don’t. The approach feels classically Berkshire. No hype. Just results.
Subsidiary CEOs echoed the restraint during the meeting. Leaders from See’s Candies, Dairy Queen, Brooks Running and Jazwares described measured experiments with the technology. Some parse customer feedback faster. Others automate routine tasks to free employees for higher-value work. None spoke of overhauling their business models overnight. The tone stayed consistent. AI must earn its keep.
Investors have taken notice. Berkshire shares have held steady while some high-flying tech names have swung wildly. Nvidia continues to climb on chip demand. Yet broader concerns about valuation linger. The top names in the S&P 500 still trade at elevated multiples. Concentration risk feels acute. Abel’s comments arrive as a timely reminder that sustainable advantage comes from disciplined execution, not from following the crowd.
Of course, Berkshire has dipped its toe into tech. The company built a sizable stake in Apple over the years, though it has trimmed that position. More recently it added to holdings in Alphabet, a move some analysts read as a quiet endorsement of the search giant’s AI potential. Still, these remain exceptions in a portfolio long rooted in insurance, rail, energy and consumer brands. Abel shows no sign of pivoting the core strategy.
The contrast with past bubbles feels instructive. During the dot-com boom, many companies spent lavishly on internet infrastructure with little proof of returns. When the music stopped, valuations collapsed. Some never recovered. Abel appears determined to avoid repeating that pattern. “You can spend a lot of money in this area,” he observed, “and we need to know what we’re trying to achieve and do we see a value proposition.”
Ajit Jain, Berkshire’s vice chairman of insurance operations, struck a similar note. He questioned whether AI could ever replace human judgment in selecting stocks or assessing underwriting risks. Fashionable tools have limits. Competitive advantage still rests with experience and discernment.
That perspective resonates beyond Omaha. Corporate boards face mounting pressure to demonstrate AI initiatives. Stock prices can swing on announcements alone. Yet the gap between hype and delivered earnings remains wide for many firms. Berkshire’s results offer a counterexample. Operating cash flow topped $10.4 billion in the first quarter. Share repurchases stayed modest at $234 million. The company prefers to keep its powder dry.
Abel’s first months in the top job have reinforced continuity. The culture Buffett spent decades shaping survives the leadership transition. Annual meetings still run long. Letters to shareholders will retain their plain-spoken style. And investment decisions will continue to demand a clear margin of safety.
None of this suggests Berkshire will sit out technological change. The conglomerate’s size and diversity give it advantages in testing new systems across industries. Rail safety, claims processing, supply chain optimization. Each area presents concrete use cases. Success will be measured in incremental gains, not in splashy product launches or rebranding campaigns.
Recent coverage has picked up on the shift in tone. The Street reported Abel’s emphasis on building rather than buying technology and his refusal to adopt AI for its own sake. Business Insider highlighted how the new CEO’s measured approach differs from the bombastic commitments of leading tech executives. Both pieces captured the same core idea. Berkshire intends to stay disciplined even as others race ahead.
Markets rarely reward patience in the short term. Momentum favors those who project grand visions. Yet over longer periods, the record favors those who avoid overpaying for uncertain outcomes. Abel now carries the mantle. His early comments suggest he plans to honor the tradition.
The cash balance alone tells part of the story. Nearly $400 billion provides options. It also signals caution. When attractive opportunities emerge, Berkshire can move. Until then, it waits. And it insists that any technology investment justify itself on the merits.
Buffett once warned that euphoria can blind investors to risk. Today’s environment, with its sky-high valuations in select names and frantic capital spending, carries echoes of past excesses. Abel did not repeat the warning in so many words. His actions and his careful phrasing delivered the message anyway.
Industry insiders would do well to listen. The pressure to appear innovative can lead companies down expensive paths with little to show at the bottom line. Berkshire offers an alternative model. Identify real problems. Apply tools that solve them. Measure the improvement. Repeat only if the numbers hold up.
That formula built one of the world’s most valuable companies. It may not generate the same headlines as billion-dollar GPU orders or flashy model releases. But it has a habit of producing durable results. In an age of accelerating technological claims, such steadiness carries its own power.
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