Artificial Intelligence · Finland
AI regulation in Finland: laws & policy (2026)
Finland shaded by its artificial intelligence status
AI in Finland: comprehensive law.
FrameworkEU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) as directly applicable law, supplemented nationally by the Act on the Supervision of Certain Artificial Intelligence Systems (1377/2025) and related amendments (Government Proposal HE 46/2025), in force since 1 January 2026
As an EU Member State, Finland is subject to the EU AI Act, which entered into force on 1 August 2024 and began applying in stages from 2 February 2025. Finland has enacted its national implementing package (HE 46/2025), including the Act on the Supervision of Certain AI Systems (1377/2025), effective 1 January 2026, which designates competent authorities and gives them investigative, corrective and fining powers. Finland uses a decentralised supervision model coordinated by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom), which is the single point of contact and operator of the national AI regulatory sandbox.
The EU AI Act in Finland
In Finland, artificial intelligence is governed by the EU AI Act, the first comprehensive AI law, which applies directly as an EU regulation.
- Framework
- the EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689)
- Approach
- risk-based: unacceptable-risk AI is banned, high-risk AI faces strict duties, limited-risk AI has transparency rules
- General-purpose AI
- transparency duties for all GPAI models; systemic-risk models add safety and evaluation obligations
- Timeline
- phased: prohibitions from Feb 2025, GPAI rules from Aug 2025, most high-risk obligations from Aug 2026
- Maximum fine
- €35 million or 7% of global annual turnover for prohibited-AI breaches
- Oversight
- national market-surveillance authorities, coordinated by the EU AI Office
The AI Act is an EU regulation applied directly in Finland; national market-surveillance authorities handle enforcement.
The EU AI Act in Finland: FAQ
Yes. As an EU member, Finland is covered by the EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689), which applies directly.
It uses a risk-based approach: unacceptable-risk AI is banned, high-risk AI faces strict obligations, and general-purpose AI models carry transparency duties.
It is phased: prohibitions applied from February 2025, general-purpose-AI rules from August 2025, and most high-risk obligations from August 2026.
Up to €35 million or 7% of global annual turnover for breaching the prohibited-AI rules, with lower tiers for other breaches.
Key points
The EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) applies directly in Finland with a phased timetable: prohibitions and AI literacy from 2 February 2025, GPAI rules from 2 August 2025, and high-risk / most obligations from 2 August 2026 (with an extended date for embedded high-risk systems to 2 August 2027).
Government Proposal HE 46/2025 was submitted to Parliament on 8 May 2025; the resulting Act on the Supervision of Certain Artificial Intelligence Systems (1377/2025) plus amendments to sectoral market-surveillance, Financial Supervisory Authority and Energy Authority statutes were approved by the President on 22 December 2025 and entered into force on 1 January 2026.
Finland has chosen a decentralised model: sectoral market-surveillance authorities enforce the AI Act (Tukes/Safety and Chemicals Agency, Finnish Customs, Traficom, Occupational Safety and Health Authority, Fimea, Energy Authority, Data Protection Ombudsman, FIN-FSA, Valvira and the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southwestern Finland). Traficom is the national Single Point of Contact, coordinates authorities and represents Finland in the European AI Board.
Traficom is designated to establish and operate Finland's AI regulatory sandbox under Article 57 of the AI Act, aimed particularly at supporting SMEs and start-ups in testing AI systems in a controlled regulatory environment before market entry.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (TEM) leads Finland's Artificial Intelligence 4.0 Programme, launched in November 2020 to accelerate AI adoption in SMEs and the twin (digital/green) transition; the programme's final report (December 2022) sets out 11 actions toward Finland's 2030 AI vision.
AI systems processing personal data remain subject to the GDPR and the Finnish Data Protection Act (1050/2018), enforced by the Data Protection Ombudsman; sectoral rules on product safety, medical devices, financial services, road/rail/air transport and telecoms continue to apply alongside the AI Act.
Timeline - major decisions & events
National acts granting Finnish authorities the powers to supervise and enforce the EU AI Act entered into force, activating Traficom as single point of contact and the decentralised model of sector market-surveillance authorities plus a Sanctions Board for fines above EUR 300,000.
Finnish Government (valtioneuvosto.fi) ↗Obligations for general-purpose AI models and the AI Act governance rules became applicable; Finland's supplementary national framework designating market-surveillance authorities is timed to this date.
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (TEM) ↗Cross-government guidelines, drafted by an interministerial working group, set out how the Finnish public sector may use generative AI openly, transparently and responsibly, a key soft-law instrument shaping state AI use ahead of binding AI Act rules.
Ministry of Finance (VM) ↗The world's first comprehensive AI law took effect, directly applicable in Finland without transposition and establishing the risk-based framework that now governs AI in the country.
European Commission ↗The Ministry of Finance launched the EUR 100 million AuroraAI programme (2020-2022) to build a human-centric, ethically sustainable network of AI-enabled public services, anchoring Finland's public-sector AI governance and ethics work.
Finnish Government (valtioneuvosto.fi) ↗Following complaints, the Deputy Parliamentary Ombudsman questioned whether automated tax-assessment decisions safeguard legal protection, good administration and accountability, a landmark scrutiny of public-sector automated decision-making that shaped Finland's later AI-governance and AI Act positions.
AlgorithmWatch (Automating Society) ↗The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment set out eight priority actions to make Finland a leader in applying AI, foregrounding trustworthy AI and ethics, the foundational national strategy preceding EU-level regulation.
European Commission (Knowledge4Policy) ↗The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment established the AI Programme to position Finland as a frontrunner in AI application, producing interim (2017), thematic (2018) and final (2019) reports that set the country's early AI-policy direction.
European Commission (AI Watch) ↗Finland - other topics
Artificial Intelligence in other countries
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