Norwegian AI Tool Enhances Child Abuse Investigations, Sought by Swedish Police

The Norwegian police have deployed an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tool nationwide to aid in the prevention and investigation of sexual abuse against children. The system, which uses facial recognition technology against national ID databases, has proven crucial in identifying victims in major cases, including the so-called Omegle case where nearly 200 children were identified.

Since its pilot launch in 2023 by Kripos, Norway's National Criminal Investigation Service, the AI tool has helped identify children in abuse material, supporting convictions of offenders. In January 2026, the tool was rolled out to all police districts across Norway, enabling local forces to utilize its capabilities in ongoing investigations.

The tool operates by scanning images against Norwegian passports, ID cards, and police photo registers. According to May Britt Grunnaleite, project leader for the facial recognition initiative at Kripos, the system is secure, access-controlled, and does not return data beyond its trained algorithm, ensuring privacy and data safety.

Meanwhile, Swedish authorities continue to manually review abuse material, facing challenges in identifying victims. Over 200 children remain unidentified in Swedish cases, prompting calls from Swedish investigators for a similar AI solution. Christer Andersson of Sweden’s National Operations Department highlighted the Norwegian tool’s effectiveness and expressed hope for adopting comparable technology.

Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer acknowledged ongoing efforts to digitize and make passport images searchable but noted that processes to identify victims using AI tools are still under development. The Norwegian model demonstrates significant progress in leveraging AI to protect children and assist law enforcement in complex investigations.

Read more: digi.no