Buffett's Latest Interview: Criticizes Current Market Speculation Craze, Acknowledges Personally Leading Investment in Google

BlockBeats News, July 16th - In a recent interview, "Stock God" Warren Buffett expressed his views on the market environment, tech investments, Federal Reserve personnel, and other topics.

Criticism of the current market environment's difficulty in discovering value

Buffett criticized the current market for being increasingly driven by speculative trading rather than a long-term investment philosophy, stating, "When everyone prefers gambling, it is very difficult to find something of value." Earlier this year, Buffett described the stock market as a cathedral with a side of a casino and specifically pointed out that single-date option trading is a form of gambling. Despite the energy impact of the US-Iran conflict this year, the three major US stock indices have continued to reach new highs. Stocks related to AI infrastructure have been accused of excessive speculation, and retail investors have poured into targets like Micron Technology and SpaceX. Buffett, known for his long-term value investing, stated that truly meaningful investment opportunities are not common and require patience and discipline - "Sometimes opportunities slip away quickly, but in other times, finding one every few years is already very lucky. Due to humans' strong inclination towards gambling, more funds are brought in by nurturing gamblers than investors."

Buffett admits to personally leading the investment in Google

Buffett stated that Berkshire's recent large-scale investment in Google was personally driven by him, not by CEO successor Greg Abel. However, "I will not do anything he does not approve of, and he will not do anything I do not approve of. Ultimately, he is the decision-maker." Berkshire has been continuously increasing its holdings in Google since the third quarter of 2025 and even participated in its $10 billion private placement earlier this year. Buffett admitted, "The key to investment is to find companies that can consistently provide high returns on capital for a long period," and acknowledged that he "made a mistake" - not investing in Google earlier. He recalled that in 2018, although he saw the success of Google's advertising business through Geico, he was unsure at the time if it could be a long-term winner. However, he also mentioned that Google is not his favorite holding, "My level of fondness for it is not as high as at least four or five other companies we hold," and pointed out that the AI field's investment of hundreds of billions of dollars is a key issue faced by Google and all its competitors - "When they developed software in the past, they were not playing this kind of game."

Warren Buffett considers Powell a "decent choice"

Regarding the new Federal Reserve Chairman, Kevin Powell, Buffett described him as a "decent choice." Powell demonstrated his policy style during his first meeting in June by maintaining interest rates while proposing adjustments to the central bank's policy framework and committing to steering the Fed in a new direction to address inflation during congressional hearings. Buffett stated, "I think he will make every effort to fulfill the assigned tasks, which is to achieve the 2% inflation target while maintaining maximum employment. He cannot be perfect, just as I know I cannot perfectly manage other people's funds and consistently achieve excess returns. Powell cares about this country, which does not mean his decisions are always correct, but the reason is that sometimes making these decisions is indeed very difficult."