Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel said the company sees a major opportunity in the growing electricity needs of AI data centers, while also revealing a fresh $10 billion investment in Alphabet, Google's parent company.
In a CNBC interview on Wednesday, September 2, Abel said Alphabet has become Berkshire's third-largest common stock holding after the additional purchase about three months ago. Berkshire owned roughly 106 million Alphabet shares worth about $37.8 billion at the end of June, representing approximately 10.4% of Berkshire's total cash reserves of $364.7 billion.
Warren Buffett first started buying Alphabet shares during the third quarter of 2025. Abel said he and Buffett jointly authorized the follow-on investment, which was made at a 6.5% discount to Alphabet's stock price at the time. Abel called Google a “significant player” in artificial intelligence and said that was a key reason for increasing the position.
“We are all seeing and feeling the impact of AI,” Abel told CNBC.
Berkshire Hathaway Energy is also positioned to benefit from AI infrastructure power demand. The subsidiary serves around 13 million customers and end-users globally. In Iowa, where the energy unit is based, data centers accounted for about 8% of its electrical load last year. Abel said he has long believed energy supply would be the key limiting factor in the AI buildout.
“I've sort of always had the strong view that energy would be the constraint,” Abel said.
Berkshire Hathaway Energy plans to spend around $33.5 billion through 2026 to expand generation, storage, and transmission. However, Abel set a clear condition: the company will only pursue AI hyperscaler deals if existing customers do not see higher rates as a result.
Buffett also pointed to heavy AI spending across the sector, noting that Alphabet itself is roughly doubling its AI spending to around $185 billion. The news underscores Berkshire's broader bet on AI through both technology equities and energy infrastructure, though no specific cryptocurrency or crypto-related project was mentioned.
