Buffett said that the previous year he had said that developing nuclear weapons let a genie out of the bottle, and that the genie has been doing terrible things lately.

This claim is about what Buffett himself said earlier. True: a record from 2023, most likely the 2023 Berkshire annual meeting, shows Buffett saying that developing nuclear weapons let a genie out of the bottle. The claim's 'lately' remark is his own opinion, so the factual test is whether the earlier statement exists in the period he described. Mostly true: he made the 'genie out of the bottle' statement about nuclear weapons, but it was not exactly 'last year' (for example, 2022 or another recent year), or the wording was slightly different. Mixed: he made a similar statement in 2023, but about a related subject (for example, AI or weapons generally) rather than specifically about developing nuclear weapons. Mostly false: the only earlier statements found are loosely related and made many years before. False: transcripts of his 2023 public remarks, read together with his other recorded statements, show he made no such statement.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Warren Buffett: Is AI The Nuclear Genie of Our Time? - The Acquirer's Multiple® The Acquirer's Multiple · 6 May 2024

   “And last year I said you know that we let a genie out of the bottle when we developed nuclear weapons.”

2. E2 Warren Buffett Warns A.I. Breakthroughs Are Like Atomic Bombs in WWII Observer · 8 May 2023

   “"We did invent, for very, very good reason, the atom bomb in World War II," Buffett said.”

3. E3 Warren Buffett compares AI to the creation of the atomic bomb TechSpot · 8 May 2023

   “"We did invent for very, very good reason, the atom bomb," Buffett said.”

E2 and E3, both independent reports dated 8 May 2023 on the 2023 Berkshire meeting, quote Buffett saying "we did invent, for very, very good reason, the atom bomb in World War II." This confirms that the year before, he publicly talked about developing nuclear weapons, comparing them to AI. Neither quote contains the phrase "genie out of the bottle," so the evidence supports the substance but not the exact wording he later recalled. E1 only records his 2024 restatement. The criteria count slightly different wording as mostly true.