Alphabet, Google's parent company, announced on Tuesday that its board of directors has given the green light for a $70 billion share buyback plan. This move follows last year's announcement of a similar repurchase program in April 2022.

Since the previous announcement, Google has implemented cost-cutting measures and staff reductions in response to shifting economic conditions and overstaffing. The tech giant will consider factors such as market conditions and stock prices when deciding the timing and extent of its buybacks for both Class A and Class C shares.

Class A shares refer to the original Google shares that grant voting rights, while Class C shares are a more recent addition with no voting rights. There are also non-publicly traded, super-voting Class B shares.

Alphabet's stock experienced a 3% increase in after-hours trading as the company reported revenues exceeding Wall Street projections. In 2022, Alphabet's share buyback program was only surpassed by Apple in terms of volume.

Share buybacks have become a contentious issue in Washington, D.C., with investors like Warren Buffett praising the practice for increasing the value of existing shares by reducing the number of shares available. Buffett has even referred to opponents of share buybacks as economically "illiterate."

However, politicians, including President Joe Biden, have criticized share buybacks, arguing that they represent an unwise allocation of company profits in comparison to other options, such as employee wage increases. Critics also claim that buybacks effectively manipulate share prices. As a result, a 1% tax on buybacks, supported by the Biden administration, was introduced last year.