Berkshire Hathaway Bets on AI Power and Alphabet

Abel said Berkshire’s utilities could benefit from the growing need for power at AI data centers, but only if serving hyperscalers does not raise costs for other customers. He also pointed to Berkshire’s Alphabet holding, now worth almost $36 billion, as a second way to participate in AI growth after Warren Buffett initiated the position last year.

The move gives investors a clearer view of how Berkshire intends to earn from AI without straying from its usual playbook of owning essential infrastructure and large-scale operating assets. For energy investors, it reinforces that utilities with available generation and transmission can become scarce assets as AI demand rises. For tech investors, it confirms that the biggest AI beneficiaries are still being judged by who can fund and power the next wave of computing.

Abel said Berkshire sees “significant” opportunity in supplying energy to the expanding number of AI data centers, but acknowledged rising local opposition to new projects across the U.S. That resistance could slow development, even as utilities and landowners compete for billions of dollars in AI-related investment.

His comments also sharpen Berkshire’s exposure to Alphabet after the conglomerate bought $10 billion of the shares directly from the company this spring, at a 6.5% discount, when Google parent Alphabet raised $80 billion to fund AI infrastructure. Abel said Berkshire views Google as a “key player” in AI and expects the technology to have a major impact on the U.S. economy and business.

For investors, the takeaway is that Berkshire is positioning itself on both sides of the AI trade: as a potential power supplier to the physical buildout and as a shareholder in one of the sector’s dominant platforms. The next catalyst is whether Berkshire expands its utility-linked AI exposure further, and whether data-center demand keeps forcing capital into power, grid and cooling assets.