{"id":4625,"date":"2026-04-28T15:17:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tradertideinsights.com\/?p=4625"},"modified":"2026-04-28T15:17:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:17:13","slug":"norway-wealth-fund-chief-warns-on-ai-job-cut-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tradertideinsights.com\/?p=4625","title":{"rendered":"Norway wealth fund chief warns on AI job-cut backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The CEO of Norway\u2019s $2.2 trillion sovereign wealth fund has urged companies to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) in a way that benefits society broadly, cautioning against using the technology primarily to cut jobs.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Tuesday to Reuters, Nicolai Tangen warned that layoffs linked to AI adoption could spark a backlash, particularly as companies globally increase the use of automation tools.<\/p>\n

The fund, which invests Norway\u2019s oil and gas revenues, is the world\u2019s largest sovereign wealth fund and holds stakes in around 7,200 companies, owning an average of 1.5% of all listed stocks worldwide.<\/p>\n

Focus on productivity over cost-cutting<\/h2>\n

Tangen expressed concern about companies prioritising cost reduction over long-term productivity gains.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m surprised by people who basically use it only to take out costs,\u201d he said in an interview with Reuters at the fund’s offices in Oslo.<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cBecause people are not stupid. They don’t particularly want to make themselves unemployed. So it’s not an incentive to integrate it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He emphasised that AI should be used to strengthen economic output and efficiency rather than eliminate jobs. <\/p>\n

The comments come as several large US companies have announced layoffs this year while streamlining operations amid increasing AI adoption. <\/p>\n

This has intensified concerns among policymakers about potential job losses and broader economic consequences.<\/p>\n

Encouraging wider adoption without backlash<\/h2>\n

Tangen, who has previously supported AI integration within the fund, reiterated that his organisation is not planning layoffs. <\/p>\n

Around half of the fund\u2019s 700 employees are involved in coding their own AI tools.<\/p>\n

He argued that companies should instead focus on leveraging AI to expand their market presence.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead, why don’t you use it to become more productive and gain market share? You are going to make adoption faster and easier for yourself … and you are going to make it easier for society so we don’t get this total backlash against something that is really, really positive,\u201d he said, as mentioned in a Reuters report.<\/p>\n

Europe\u2019s lag in technology adoption<\/h2>\n

Tangen also highlighted Europe\u2019s challenges in competing with US technology firms.<\/p>\n

Despite this, he noted that Europe has strong fundamentals, including a highly educated workforce, digital infrastructure, and access to large datasets. <\/p>\n

The fund\u2019s exposure to Europe has declined over time, with investments in the region falling to 24.8% from 39% a decade ago, reflecting slower growth compared to US technology companies.<\/p>\n

Calls for reform and diversification<\/h2>\n

Earlier this year, the fund urged Europe to unify its capital markets and promote competition and innovation. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, concerns have been raised by some Norwegian politicians over the fund\u2019s heavy exposure to the United States, which accounts for more than half of its investments.<\/p>\n

Tangen said he would welcome more global service provider options, pointing out the lack of alternatives to US-based firms. <\/p>\n

Currently, the fund relies on Amazon\u2019s AWS for cloud services and Citibank as its global custodian.<\/p>\n

The post Norway wealth fund chief warns on AI job-cut backlash<\/a> appeared first on Invezz<\/a><\/p>\n

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The CEO of Norway\u2019s $2.2 trillion sovereign wealth fund has urged companies to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) in a way that benefits society broadly, cautioning against using the technology primarily to cut jobs.Speaking on Tuesday to Reuters, Nicolai Tangen warned that layoffs linked to AI adoption could spark a backlash, particularly as companies globally increase…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tradertideinsights.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tradertideinsights.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tradertideinsights.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradertideinsights.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradertideinsights.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tradertideinsights.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradertideinsights.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tradertideinsights.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradertideinsights.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradertideinsights.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}