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Tech firms and child protection organizations will be granted authority to evaluate whether artificial intelligence tools can generate child abuse images under new UK legislation.

Substantial Rise in AI-Generated Harmful Material

The announcement coincided with findings from a protection watchdog showing that reports of AI-generated child sexual abuse material have more than doubled in the past year, growing from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025.

New Regulatory Structure

Under the amendments, the government will permit designated AI developers and child safety organizations to examine AI models – the foundational technology for chatbots and image generators – and verify they have adequate safeguards to stop them from creating images of child exploitation.

"Ultimately about preventing exploitation before it happens," stated Kanishka Narayan, adding: "Experts, under rigorous protocols, can now detect the risk in AI models early."

Addressing Legal Obstacles

The amendments have been introduced because it is against the law to create and possess CSAM, meaning that AI developers and other parties cannot generate such content as part of a evaluation process. Previously, officials had to wait until AI-generated CSAM was published online before addressing it.

This legislation is designed to averting that issue by helping to stop the creation of those images at their origin.

Legislative Framework

The changes are being added by the authorities as modifications to the criminal justice legislation, which is also implementing a ban on owning, producing or sharing AI models designed to create child sexual abuse material.

Practical Impact

This week, the official visited the London base of Childline and listened to a simulated conversation to advisors featuring a account of AI-based exploitation. The interaction depicted a teenager requesting help after facing extortion using a sexualised deepfake of themselves, constructed using AI.

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

Concerning Statistics

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

Instances of category A material – the gravest form of abuse – increased from 2,621 images or videos to 3,086.

• Girls were predominantly victimized, accounting for 94% of illegal AI images in 2025
• Portrayals of newborns to two-year-olds rose from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Industry Reaction

The law change could "represent a crucial step to guarantee AI tools are secure before they are released," commented the head of the internet monitoring foundation.

"AI tools have enabled so survivors can be targeted repeatedly with just a simple actions, giving offenders the capability to create potentially endless amounts of advanced, lifelike child sexual abuse material," she continued. "Content which additionally commodifies victims' trauma, and renders young people, especially female children, less safe both online and offline."

Counseling Session Information

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

• Employing AI to rate weight, physique and appearance
• Chatbots discouraging young people from talking to safe adults about abuse
• Being bullied online with AI-generated content
• Digital extortion using AI-faked pictures

During April and September this year, Childline conducted 367 counselling interactions where AI, conversational AI and associated terms were mentioned, significantly more as many as in the same period last year.

Fifty percent of the mentions of AI in the 2025 interactions were related to psychological wellbeing and wellbeing, encompassing using AI assistants for assistance and AI therapeutic apps.