Warren Buffett is betting on driverless trucks

Plus: Putin's obvious weapon. [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a driverless truck of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [Driverless trucks]( are coming. - Putin wants to [divide Europe]( ... - … making Europe kind of [a lousy place to live](. - Jackson Hole will [be a yawner](. Buffett’s Truck Stop Writing this newsletter might be the best job I’ve ever had. Cleaning carpets was one of the worst. One night I was driving the van back to the shop after a day of sucking filth from strangers’ shags, when I tried to pass an 18-wheeler on the right. Bad move. I was in the truck’s blind spot, and it chose just then to switch lanes, forcing my [Econoline]( off the road. As I contemplated nearly dying in a shower of brown carpet-water, I told myself, “Someday this will all be over. Someday I’ll write a newsletter.” I guess what I’m saying is I’m terrified of big trucks on the highway. Most normal people are? Now imagine these monstrosities tearing down the road without drivers. Doesn’t sound great. Then again, maybe in a perfect world a robot truck driver would have seen my van coming and not tried to murder me. Maybe I’d still be cleaning carpets, and you’d be reading a better newsletter. Perfect or not, this [Robot Truck World seems a lot more realistic]( today, Thomas Black writes, now that Warren Buffett has invested in the idea. Pilot, a truck-stop company owned by Berkshire, has bought a piece of a driverless-truck startup called Kodiak Robotics. As Thomas points out, Buffett doesn’t just take punts on random startups. He didn’t even buy Apple stock until 2016. He waits until business ideas are up and running and producing tangible stuff like candy and railroads. In other words, we should start bracing now for driverless trucks, for better or worse. Maybe they’ll be safer, and maybe they’ll help with a huge trucker shortage that isn’t doing inflation or supply chains any favors. Still, try to pass them on the left if you can. Putin Divides to Conquer A possible variation on the old adage “There are no atheists in foxholes” is “There are no patriots when the electricity is out.” It just kinda sounds right. Whether it is or not, Vladimir Putin is testing roughly this hypothesis by [threatening to starve Europe of energy this winter](, with a view to sowing social unrest across the continent, writes Maria Tadeo. The idea, which Putin’s minions have stated openly, is to shatter European unity about supporting Ukraine. And there’s a dangerously good chance it might work. To be sure, the pain in this energy war flows both ways. Julian Lee points out [Russian oil producers are offering big discounts]( on their product to move it ahead of threatened US price caps. Still, at the moment it’s not as easy as it usually is for [Americans to envy people who live in Europe](, writes Tyler Cowen. The US has too many problems to list in this space, but a big one it doesn’t have is a war in its backyard. It also has electricity, for the [most part](, at much lower prices than in Europe. It’s almost enough to make you feel patriotic. Telltale Charts After you read Marcus Ashworth’s [Jackson Hole preview](, you will have probably read all the Jackson Hole content you need, points out Jonathan Levin. The Fed’s annual central banking symposium and goat rodeo is [almost never a market mover](, despite all the attention it gets — this year more than ever. Oh goody, another energy shortage: [Kazakhstan oil flows are down a bunch](, according to the latest [Elements]( newsletter. Further Reading President Joe Biden’s [student-debt plan will come back to haunt]( him and the country. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Congress [checkmated the Supreme Court on climate](, but it might not get so lucky again. — Noah Feldman Talk about [diversifying from China is cheap](. Replicating its vast infrastructure and supply chains is not. — Anjani Trivedi and Shuli Ren Just a decade after Fukushima, [Japan is embracing nuclear power]( again. It has little choice. — Gearoid Reidy “Free trading” isn’t really free, but that’s okay. It was [a lot worse in the old days](. — Jared Dillian ICYMI Republican [politicians are attacking ESG]( and the firms that practice it. For sale: [60,000 sneakers]( from a Ponzi scheme. The [nine best sushi bars]( in the US. Kickers Plants can [think, feel and learn](. (h/t Robert Burgess) Area gang operated a [fake police station]( down the road from a real one. (h/t Scott Kominers) The depressing quest for [Instagram face]( continues. Your [doppelgänger is out there]( somewhere. Notes: Please send Instagram faces and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022