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Technology companies and child protection organizations will receive permission to assess whether AI systems can produce child abuse images under recently introduced UK laws.

Significant Increase in AI-Generated Illegal Material

The declaration coincided with findings from a safety monitoring body showing that reports of AI-generated child sexual abuse material have increased dramatically in the last twelve months, growing from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025.

Updated Legal Structure

Under the changes, the government will permit designated AI developers and child safety groups to inspect AI systems – the underlying systems for chatbots and visual AI tools – and ensure they have adequate safeguards to prevent them from creating depictions of child sexual abuse.

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

Tackling Legal Obstacles

The amendments have been introduced because it is against the law to create and own CSAM, meaning that AI developers and other parties cannot generate such content as part of a testing process. Until now, authorities had to delay action until AI-generated CSAM was published online before addressing it.

This law is aimed at preventing that problem by helping to stop the production of those materials at source.

Legislative Framework

The amendments are being introduced by the authorities as modifications to the crime and policing bill, which is also implementing a ban on possessing, producing or sharing AI models designed to generate exploitative content.

Practical Consequences

This week, the minister toured the London base of a children's helpline and listened to a simulated call to advisors featuring a account of AI-based exploitation. The interaction portrayed a adolescent requesting help after facing extortion using a explicit AI-generated image of himself, created using AI.

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

Alarming Data

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

Instances of the most severe content – the gravest form of exploitation – increased from 2,621 images or videos to 3,086.

• Girls were predominantly victimized, making up 94% of prohibited AI depictions in 2025
• Portrayals of newborns to two-year-olds increased from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Sector Response

The law change could "constitute a vital step to ensure AI products are safe before they are launched," commented the chief executive of the online safety organization.

"Artificial intelligence systems have made it so survivors can be victimised repeatedly with just a simple actions, providing offenders the ability to make potentially limitless amounts of sophisticated, lifelike exploitative content," she added. "Material which further commodifies victims' suffering, and renders young people, especially female children, less safe on and off line."

Support Session Information

Childline also published information of counselling sessions where AI has been mentioned. AI-related harms mentioned in the sessions include:

• Employing AI to evaluate body size, physique and looks
• AI assistants dissuading children from talking to trusted adults about abuse
• Facing harassment online with AI-generated content
• Digital extortion using AI-faked pictures

During April and September this year, the helpline conducted 367 support sessions where AI, chatbots and associated terms were discussed, significantly more as many as in the same period last year.

Half of the references of AI in the 2025 interactions were related to mental health and wellbeing, encompassing using AI assistants for support and AI therapeutic apps.