Artificial Intelligence in Finland
Regulatory guidance / voluntary codes in Finland
In order to ensure the consistent, effective, and uniform application of the EU AI Act across the European Union, the European Commission has adopted some guidelines (that are non-binding since only the Court of Justice of the European Union has authoritative interpretation powers) on the following provisions of the text:
- Prohibited AI practices, on 4 February 2025 (however, the Commission has not yet formally adopted them); and
- Definition of an AI system, on 6 February 2025 (however, the Commission has not yet formally adopted them).
Further guidelines on high-risk AI systems are expected, and are currently under consultation. The Commission is also expected to provide harmonized standards and common specifications for both high-risk AI systems and general-purpose AI models, providing organizations with further tools which provide a presumption of conformity.
The Commission released the final version of its general-purpose AI Code of Practice on 10 July 2025, and followed it up by publishing Guidelines on the scope of obligations for general-purpose AI model providers on 18 July 2025.
The Commission has also released the first draft of its Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-Generated Content. The Code is planned to be finalized by June 2026. If approved, the final code will be a voluntary tool for providers and deployers to demonstrate compliance with their obligations for marking and labelling AI-generated content under the EU AI Act.
Under the EU AI Act, providers of AI systems that do not fall under the high-risk classification, as well as deployers, have the possibility to adopt voluntary codes of conduct (Article 95) in order to adopt, on a non-binding basis, technical solution and industry best practices. Because of this, it is expected that the AI office will issue further codes of conduct for this (which will be distinct from the GPAI Code of Practice and the Code of Practice on Transparency).
To provide organisations with support identifying and implementing AI literacy initiatives, the Commission launched a repository of AI literacy practices. The repository was updated in November 2025 to improve the searchability of practices.
In May 2024, the Council of Europe published a Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law (Framework). It is an international, legally binding treaty aiming to ensure that activities within the lifecycle of AI systems are fully consistent with human rights, democracy and the rule of law, whilst being conducive to technological progress and innovation.
AI compliance in Finland
In Finland, the national implementation of the AI Act is still underway, and therefore, there are not many official guidelines available yet. However, some reports and guidelines have been published, which are presented below.
In 2021, the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman issued its observations on artificial intelligence’s effects on equality. The Ombudsman discusses both risks of discrimination related to use of artificial intelligence and the possibilities of AI to promote the realisation of equality. The Ombudsman also brings up the need for proactive impact assessment and supervision in the use of artificial intelligence. Use of different AI systems and algorithmic decision-making are increasing constantly, so the significance of questions of equality in their utilisation grows also.
In 2022, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland issued a repot called Finland as a leader in the twin transition – Final report of the Artificial Intelligence 4.0 programme. The report states that the vision of the program is to make Finland a winner in the twin transition, which describes a simultaneous digital and green transition. To achieve this vision, three areas of development were identified: (i) Strengthening high-level research on key technologies as well as development activities and investments (ii) Increasing the adoption of digital capabilities and technologies that accelerate the dual transition in industrial SMEs (iii) Making Finland an international frontrunner in the twin transition.
In 2023, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland has issued a study on Impacts of the EU’s Proposed Regulation of Artificial Intelligence on the Business Environment of Finnish Companies. The study focused on the assessment of regulatory burden, changes in business opportunities and clarity of the requirements of the AI Act.
Further, in May 2025 the Finnish Data Protection Ombudsman has issued guidelines on ensuring data protection in the development and use of AI systems. The guidelines explain how organisations can ensure that personal data is processed lawfully in AI systems. The guidelines issued are not exhaustive, and organisations are still always expected to assess the requirements arising from legislation case by case.