It’s no secret that Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway are big fans of Apple, and last month, the conglomerate revealed that it had further expanded its already-massive holding of Apple stock. In a new interview on Wednesday, Buffett once again sang the praises of Apple, CEO Tim Cook, and iPhone loyalty.
Speaking to CNBC on Wednesday morning, Buffett praised how well Cook has led Apple during his tenure as CEO. “Tim Cook is one of the classiest CEOs and he understands the business,” Buffett said. “Tim Cook has managed that company in an extraordinary way.”
Buffett also explained why he thinks Apple has such a strong brand loyalty from its users, saying that people wouldn’t give up their iPhone even for $10,000.
“If you’re an Apple user and somebody offers you $10,000, but the only proviso is they’ll take away your iPhone and you’ll never be able to buy another, you’re not going to take it. If they tell you if you buy another Ford car, they’ll give you $10,000 not to do that, you’ll take the $10,000 and you’ll buy a Chevy instead.
It’s an incredibly valuable utility. That doesn’t mean it can’t be misused by kids, and Tim Cook cares about that. Everything can be misused. But I think Tim Cook cares about that.
I think that Tim Cook is one of the classiest CEOs. He understands the business and he has a product, which Steve Jobs basically invented, but Tim Cook has managed that company in an extraordinary way.”
Buffett went on to explain that when questioned about why Berkshire Hathaway owns so many AAPL shares, it comes down to Apple being a “wonderful business” for both users and investors. “How the hell could we develop a business like that? And so, we own a lot of it,” he said. “And our ownership goes up a little bit every year because they buy back their stock. And Tim does not issue it, he buys it. And we love it.”
Finally, Buffett indicated that Berkshire Hathaway has no plans to sell any of its Apple stock. In fact, he said that a 2021 decision to sell some of its AAPL shares for tax purposes seemed like a “good idea” at the time, but ultimately turned out to be a “dumb decision.”
Warren Buffett’s first interaction with ChatGPT
In the interview, Buffett also addressed the recent explosion of artificial intelligence and services like ChatGPT. “I think it’s something I don’t understand at all,” Buffett explained. In fact, it wasn’t until Bill Gates visited him and showed him just how powerful technology like ChatGPT can be… with a somewhat hilarious example.
“I think it’s something I don’t understand at all, but Bill did come by about four or five months ago at least and said ‘I’m going to show you the latest thing and what can be done with that.’ I actually said take the song ‘My Way’ and write it in Spanish. Two seconds later, you know, it comes out and it comes out that rhymes and does all these wonderful things.
It just doesn’t know how to tell jokes, but it can tell you that it’s read every book, every legal opinion. I mean, the amount of time it could save you, if you were doing all kinds of things, is unbelievable.”
Buffett has been open about his lack of tech knowledge in the past, but has shown a willingness to try new technology at his own pace. Still, he’s not quite convinced things like ChatGPT will ultimately be useful to most people. “I think it’s an incredible technological advance in terms of showing what we can do,” he explained. “I think this is extraordinary but I don’t know if it’s beneficial.”
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