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Tech firms and child safety agencies will receive authority to assess whether AI tools can produce child exploitation material under new British laws.

Significant Increase in AI-Generated Illegal Material

The announcement coincided with findings from a protection monitoring body showing that reports of AI-generated CSAM have more than doubled in the past year, growing from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025.

Updated Legal Framework

Under the changes, the government will allow designated AI developers and child safety organizations to inspect AI systems – the foundational systems for conversational AI 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," stated the minister for AI and online safety, adding: "Specialists, under rigorous protocols, can now identify the danger in AI systems early."

Addressing Regulatory Challenges

The amendments have been implemented because it is against the law to produce and own CSAM, meaning that AI creators and others cannot generate such images as part of a testing process. Previously, authorities had to delay action until AI-generated CSAM was published online before dealing with it.

This legislation is aimed at averting that problem by helping to halt the creation of those images at their origin.

Legal Structure

The changes are being introduced by the government as modifications to the crime and policing bill, which is also implementing a prohibition on possessing, producing or sharing AI models designed to create child sexual abuse material.

Practical Impact

This recently, the official visited the London base of a children's helpline and heard a simulated call to counsellors featuring a report of AI-based abuse. The interaction portrayed a teenager requesting help after being blackmailed using a sexualised AI-generated image of themselves, created using AI.

"When I learn about children facing extortion online, it is a cause of extreme frustration in me and rightful anger amongst parents," he said.

Concerning Statistics

A leading internet monitoring foundation stated that instances of AI-generated exploitation material – such as online pages that may include numerous images – had significantly increased so far this year.

Instances of the most severe material – the most serious form of exploitation – rose from 2,621 images or videos to 3,086.

• Female children were overwhelmingly victimized, accounting for 94% of prohibited AI depictions in 2025
• Depictions of newborns to toddlers rose from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Sector Reaction

The law change could "constitute a vital step to guarantee AI products are secure before they are launched," stated the head of the online safety foundation.

"AI tools have made it so victims can be victimised repeatedly with just a few clicks, giving criminals the ability to create potentially endless amounts of sophisticated, photorealistic exploitative content," she added. "Content which further commodifies survivors' trauma, and makes children, especially girls, more vulnerable on and off line."

Support Interaction Information

Childline also published details of support sessions where AI has been mentioned. AI-related risks mentioned in the conversations comprise:

• Using AI to evaluate weight, body and looks
• AI assistants discouraging young people from talking to trusted adults about harm
• Being bullied online with AI-generated content
• Online blackmail using AI-faked images

Between April and September this year, Childline conducted 367 counselling sessions where AI, conversational AI and associated topics were mentioned, four times as many as in the same period last year.

Half of the references of AI in the 2025 interactions were related to psychological wellbeing and wellness, encompassing using chatbots for assistance and AI therapeutic applications.