A $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund managed by Norway's Norges Bank Investment Management, has begun using artificial intelligence to police its own portfolio, deploying a large language model to scan thousands of companies for signs of ethical and reputational risk, says an Impact Newswire report.
The fund, which is the largest of its kind in the world, says AI helps it uncover governance and sustainability concerns often missed by data vendors and international media, especially in emerging markets.
It has deployed Anthropic’s Claude model to scan more than 7,000 companies for links to forced labor, corruption, and fraud, reshaping how ESG risk is detected and acted upon, said the report by Faustine Ngila.
The Norwegian fund was established in the 1990s to invest surplus revenues from the country’s oil and gas sector. Today, it owns stakes in more than 7,200 companies across 60 countries, representing roughly 1.5% of all publicly listed shares worldwide.
Its size, and its history of pushing companies on environmental, social and governance standards, has made it one of the most influential voices in responsible investing.
The Norges Bank fund, disclosed in its annual responsible investment report that it is now relying on AI to generate governance and sustainability insights for portfolio managers.
The move signals how quickly generative AI systems are being absorbed into the plumbing of global finance, including in corners of the market long associated with human judgment and moral scrutiny, it stated.
A spokesperson said the fund’s ESG risk monitoring team began using Anthropic’s Claude model in day to day work in November 2024. Since then, it has become “an important tool in our monitoring of ESG risk across the portfolio.”
In its report, the fund said that in 2025 it deployed large language models to screen companies on the first day they entered its equity portfolio.
"These tools help us rapidly scan a wide range of public information that goes beyond what data vendors typically cover," stated the report.
The fund pointed out that within 24 hours of its investment, the AI tools flag new companies in the fund’s equity portfolio with potential links to, for example, forced labour, corruption or fraud.
Nicolai Tangen, the CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, said: Artificial intelligence is changing how we work as an investor. Sustainability and governance are inseparable from financial performance and world will remain complex and uncertain."
The fund had last year reported an annual profit of 2.36 trillion kroner, or $246.9 billion. Nearly 40% of its holdings are in American equities.
Among its largest positions are a 1.3% stake in Nvidia, a 1.2% stake in Apple and a 1.3% stake in Microsoft. The fund also invests in fixed income, real estate and renewable energy infrastructure, he added.
