Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTGeoffrey Seiler, The Motley FoolFri, June 5, 2026 at 7:50 PM GMT+2 4 min readUnder former CEO Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKB) (NYSE: BRKA) was never a big investor in the tech sector. Buffett always believed that we should invest in what we know, and he didn't believe he understood most tech stocks well enough to buy them.On top of that, given the pace of innovation, he believed that tech companies not only got disrupted too quickly, but also that disruption was in fact the tech business model itself. With modest moats and business models having to constantly evolve, he found projecting a company's long-term earnings and cash flow to be way too difficult.Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »Buffett finally started to invest in the sector in 2011 with International Business Machines, given its more predictable business model, although the stock woefully underperformed. He later hit pay dirt with Apple, but he viewed it much more as a consumer goods company than a tech company, which is a fair point.New CEO Greg Abel is leaving his own mark on Berkshire and its investment portfolio by loading up on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG). Berkshire bought nearly $17 billion worth of shares over the past three quarters, and it will purchase $10 billion more in a private placement as part of an $80 billion offering by Alphabet to help fund its data center construction. This latest investment is set to make Alphabet Berkshire's fourth-largest equity holding, assuming no other major changes at the top of its portfolio.And make no mistake, Alphabet is a bet on tech and artificial intelligence (AI), not a consumer goods bet. The company is raising cash through this equity offering to aggressively expand its AI infrastructure. It will make $180 billion to $190 billion in capital expenditures this year, with plans to significantly raise that amount in 2027.This is no longer a company generating a boatload of free cash flow that Berkshire is investing in, but one that plans to spend unapologetically given the opportunity it sees in front of it. With the big cost edge that Alphabet has with its chips and AI models, its spending makes sense. But it is surprising to see Berkshire buy into it, even though the company is the most complete AI play out there.Terms and Privacy PolicyPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info