Warren Buffett warns on AI scams; Feds loosen some EV rules

Berkshire Hathaway shareholders pose with a cutout poster of CEO Warren Buffett Friday, May 3, 2024, in Omaha, Neb., inside the exhibit hall in Omaha where Berkshire companies sell their products. Buffett will spend hours answering questions at the meeting Saturday. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)

Warren Buffett has come face to face with the downside of AI. And it looks just like him.

The billionaire investing guru told tens of thousands of shareholders at his annual conference in Omaha that he recently saw an AI video of himself, complete with a perfect voiceover, giving fake advice. It was so convincing, he says, he can see how people would fall for the scam.

“As someone who doesn’t understand a damn thing about it, it has enormous potential for good and enormous potential for harm and I just don’t know how that plays out,” he said.

Buffett spent all day Saturday answering shareholder questions at his first annual meeting since Vice Chairman Charlie Munger died. The absence offered shareholders the chance to hear more from the next generation of leaders who will take over after Buffett is gone.

Feds loosen some EV rules

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin says new rules governing electric vehicle tax credits are a giveaway to China.

Manchin, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said that exemptions in the new rules effectively endorse the idea that EVs will be “made in China.”

The comments came as the Treasury Department loosened some rules governing EV tax credits a bit, potentially making more EVs eligible for credits of up to $7,500.

The rules are aimed at juicing demand for EVs in an effort to reach a Biden administration goal that half of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030.

This year the credits are available at the time a vehicle is purchased from an authorized dealer rather than waiting for an income tax refund.