TL;DR:
- Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norway’s $1.4tn oil fund, calls for regulation of AI.
- The fund, which owns 1.5% of every listed company globally, plans to unveil standards for AI usage in August.
- The standards will be incorporated into the fund’s responsible investment framework for ESG investing in Europe.
- The fund is considering incorporating AI into its proxy voting process for annual shareholder meetings.
- Tangen is optimistic about AI and says the fund is already using advanced algorithms to improve efficiency and reduce costs and complexity.
- The fund’s goal is to increase efficiency by 10% over the next 12 months with the help of AI.
- The fund is monitoring the usage of AI but sees it as a valuable tool for reducing the number of trades and saving costs.
- The oil fund’s commitment to ethical and responsible AI usage serves as a model for other organizations.
Main AI News:
The head of the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norway’s $1.4tn oil fund, has called on governments to hasten the regulation of artificial intelligence. As the fund is a major investor in several tech companies, including Apple, Alphabet, Nvidia, and Microsoft, all of which are looking to transform their businesses with AI, Tangen believes that there is an urgent need for new rules to govern the ethical use of AI.
The fund, which on average owns 1.5% of every listed company globally, plans to unveil a set of standards in August to guide the AI usage of the 9,000 companies it invests in. The standards will be incorporated into the fund’s responsible investment framework, which sets the standards for ESG investing in Europe, given its massive size. Governments worldwide are grappling with the question of how to regulate AI, balancing the need for innovation with concerns about the potential consequences of superintelligent computers. The EU is currently drafting some of the toughest AI regulations.
In addition to guiding AI usage among the companies it invests in, the oil fund is also considering incorporating AI into its proxy voting process for next year’s annual shareholder meetings. The fund’s Chief Corporate Governance and Compliance Officer, Carine Smith Ihenacho, stated that the fund would be reviewing the current season in the autumn to determine whether AI could be used to help with proxy voting on tens of thousands of motions.
Tangen, who is optimistic about the potential of AI, said that the fund is already using advanced algorithms to improve internal efficiency and reduce trading costs and complexity. The fund’s goal is to increase efficiency by 10% over the next 12 months, and it’s using AI models to deploy capital in a more efficient manner. The fund is carefully monitoring the usage of AI and is not completely relying on it to make decisions, but it does see AI as a valuable tool for reducing the number of trades and saving costs.
In a recent hackathon, 130 people from the fund explored the best ways for the sovereign wealth fund to utilize AI. With a big project underway to significantly cut trading costs, the oil fund is positioning itself to be at the forefront of ethical and efficient AI usage. The oil fund’s commitment to using AI in an ethical and responsible manner serves as a model for other organizations looking to harness the power of AI while still ensuring that the technology is used for the betterment of society.
Conlcusion:
The call for swift regulation of artificial intelligence by Norway’s $1.4tn oil fund highlights the importance of ethical and responsible AI usage. As a major investor in several tech companies, the fund’s commitment to using AI in a responsible manner sets a precedent for other organizations looking to harness the power of AI.
The unveiling of standards for AI usage and the consideration of incorporating AI into its proxy voting process shows that the fund is taking a proactive approach to ensure that AI is used in a way that benefits society. This is a significant development for the market as it indicates that investment in AI should be guided by principles of ethical and responsible usage, and this trend is likely to gain traction in the future.
