Detailed overview
Denmark is regulated by the EU AI Act. The EU AI Act applies directly in Denmark and creates binding obligations for providers, deployers, importers, distributors and other AI operators depending on the risk category of the AI system.
Denmark has a strong policy focus on responsible and human-centred AI. Its National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence sets the objective that Denmark should be a front-runner in responsible AI development and use. The strategy emphasises an ethical and human-centred basis for AI, respect for citizens' rights, responsibility, security, transparency and data ethics.
The Danish Agency for Digital Government describes Denmark's AI approach as focused on human-centred, responsible AI and on addressing ethical challenges such as bias and the implications of automatic decision-making.
Denmark does not have a separate horizontal AI Act equivalent to the EU AI Act. Binding AI duties arise from the EU AI Act, GDPR, Danish data-protection rules, public-sector digitalisation rules, employment law, equality law, consumer protection, financial regulation, healthcare regulation and product-safety law.
AI systems used in Denmark should be assessed by use case. Employment AI, education AI, credit or insurance AI, biometric systems, essential-service access systems, critical-infrastructure AI and public-sector AI may fall within high-risk or sectoral regulatory categories. Penalties for EU AI Act breaches follow the EU AI Act fine structure.
Practical requirements & details
Sourced from Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (the AI Act) and Denmark's National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence.
EU AI Act core duties (in Denmark)
- Prohibited AI — banned.
- High-risk AI — risk management, data governance, documentation, logs, transparency, human oversight, accuracy, robustness, cybersecurity and conformity assessment.
- Transparency-risk AI — disclosure duties.
- GPAI models — EU documentation, transparency and copyright-policy rules.
National Strategy emphasis
- Ethical and human-centred basis for AI.
- Respect for citizens' rights, responsibility, security, transparency and data ethics.
- Address bias and implications of automatic decision-making.
Use-case assessment
- Employment AI, education AI, credit/insurance AI, biometric systems, essential-service access, critical-infrastructure AI and public-sector AI may be high-risk or sectoral.
- AI processing personal data must comply with GDPR and Danish data-protection rules.
Penalties
- EUR 35m / 7% of worldwide annual turnover — prohibited AI.
- EUR 15m / 3% — many other AI Act operator obligations.
- EUR 7.5m / 1% — incorrect, incomplete or misleading information to authorities.
Related entries
See also the European Union entry, which covers the EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) — the substantive framework that this jurisdiction implements and supervises domestically.