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Technology companies and child safety organizations will be granted permission to evaluate whether AI systems can produce child abuse material under new British laws.

Substantial Rise in AI-Generated Harmful Material

The announcement came as revelations from a safety watchdog showing that reports of AI-generated CSAM have increased dramatically in the past year, rising from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025.

New Regulatory Structure

Under the amendments, the government will allow approved AI companies and child protection organizations to examine AI systems – the foundational systems for chatbots and visual AI tools – and ensure they have sufficient protective measures to stop them from creating depictions of child sexual abuse.

"Fundamentally about stopping abuse before it happens," declared Kanishka Narayan, adding: "Experts, under rigorous conditions, can now identify the risk in AI models early."

Tackling Regulatory Obstacles

The changes have been implemented because it is illegal to produce and own CSAM, meaning that AI creators and other parties cannot create such images as part of a evaluation process. Previously, officials had to wait until AI-generated CSAM was uploaded online before addressing it.

This law is designed to averting that issue by enabling to stop the production of those images at source.

Legal Framework

The amendments are being added by the authorities as revisions to the crime and policing bill, which is also implementing a prohibition on owning, producing or distributing AI systems developed to generate exploitative content.

Real-World Impact

This week, the minister visited the London headquarters of Childline and heard a mock-up call to counsellors involving a account of AI-based exploitation. The interaction depicted a adolescent requesting help after being blackmailed using a explicit AI-generated image of himself, constructed using AI.

"When I learn about young people facing extortion online, it is a source of intense anger in me and justified concern amongst families," he stated.

Concerning Data

A leading internet monitoring foundation reported that instances of AI-generated exploitation content – such as webpages that may include multiple files – had more than doubled so far this year.

Cases of the most severe content – the most serious form of abuse – rose from 2,621 visual files to 3,086.

• Girls were overwhelmingly victimized, making up 94% of illegal AI images in 2025
• Portrayals of newborns to toddlers rose from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Sector Reaction

The law change could "represent a vital step to guarantee AI tools are safe before they are launched," stated the chief executive of the online safety foundation.

"Artificial intelligence systems have enabled so survivors can be targeted all over again with just a simple actions, giving offenders the capability to make possibly limitless quantities of sophisticated, photorealistic child sexual abuse material," she continued. "Content which further commodifies victims' trauma, and renders young people, particularly girls, more vulnerable both online and offline."

Support Interaction Information

The children's helpline also released details of support sessions where AI has been mentioned. AI-related risks discussed in the sessions include:

• Using AI to rate body size, body and appearance
• AI assistants discouraging young people from consulting safe adults about harm
• Facing harassment online with AI-generated content
• Online extortion using AI-faked pictures

Between April and September this year, Childline conducted 367 support interactions where AI, conversational AI and related terms were mentioned, significantly more as many as in the equivalent timeframe last year.

Fifty percent of the references of AI in the 2025 interactions were connected with psychological wellbeing and wellness, including using chatbots for assistance and AI therapy applications.