The world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, worth $2.2 trillion and based in Norway, has begun deploying artificial intelligence technology to identify corporate red flags including potential connections to forced labor and corruption, according to a report released Thursday.
This massive investment fund, which ranks among the globe’s most influential investors, maintains ownership positions in approximately 7,200 corporations worldwide and controls roughly 1.5% of all publicly traded shares. The fund has frequently led the way on environmental, social and governance standards.
The fund’s investment strategy follows a benchmark index established by Norway’s finance ministry, with stock holdings measured against the FTSE Global All Cap index.
Whenever new corporations are added to that index, the fund’s management arm, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), must evaluate them before adding them to the investment portfolio.
Starting in 2025, NBIM began utilizing advanced language processing models to evaluate every company on the same day they join the stock portfolio, quickly searching through public information that traditional data providers usually don’t supply.
“Within 24 hours of our investment, the AI tools flag new companies in the fund’s equity portfolio with potential links to, for example, forced labour, corruption or fraud,” NBIM stated in its annual responsible investment report, released on Thursday.
“In multiple instances, we identified and sold these investments before the broader market reacted to the risks, avoiding potential losses.”
The artificial intelligence technology proves particularly valuable when researching smaller corporations in developing markets, according to NBIM, which pointed out that data providers frequently offer minimal information and global news outlets may not cover these companies.
“News may be limited to small media outlets in local languages, and controversies suggesting systemic failures in risk management may go unreported in international media,” the organization explained.
