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Technology companies and child protection organizations will be granted permission to assess whether AI systems can produce child exploitation material under recently introduced British laws.

Substantial Rise in AI-Generated Illegal Material

The announcement coincided with revelations from a protection watchdog showing that reports of AI-generated child sexual abuse material have increased dramatically in the last twelve months, rising from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025.

New Legal Structure

Under the amendments, the authorities will allow approved AI developers and child safety organizations to inspect AI models – the underlying systems for chatbots and visual AI tools – and ensure they have adequate protective measures to prevent them from producing depictions of child exploitation.

"Fundamentally about preventing exploitation before it happens," stated the minister for AI and online safety, adding: "Specialists, under rigorous conditions, can now detect the risk in AI models early."

Tackling Legal Challenges

The changes have been implemented because it is illegal to produce and possess CSAM, meaning that AI creators and others cannot generate such content as part of a evaluation process. Previously, officials had to wait until AI-generated CSAM was uploaded online before dealing with it.

This legislation 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 revisions to the criminal justice legislation, which is also establishing a prohibition on owning, creating or distributing AI systems designed to generate child sexual abuse material.

Real-World Impact

This week, the official toured the London headquarters of a children's helpline and listened to a mock-up conversation to counsellors involving a account of AI-based abuse. The interaction depicted a adolescent requesting help after facing extortion using a explicit AI-generated image of themselves, constructed using AI.

"When I learn about young people experiencing blackmail online, it is a source of extreme anger in me and rightful anger amongst parents," he stated.

Alarming Data

A prominent online safety organization reported that cases of AI-generated exploitation content – such as online pages that may include multiple images – had more than doubled so far this year.

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

• Girls were predominantly victimized, accounting for 94% of prohibited AI images in 2025
• Depictions of infants to toddlers increased from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Industry Response

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

"Artificial intelligence systems have made it so victims can be victimised all over again with just a few clicks, providing offenders the ability to make potentially endless amounts of advanced, lifelike exploitative content," she added. "Material which further exploits survivors' suffering, and makes young people, particularly girls, more vulnerable on and off line."

Support Session Data

The children's helpline also released information of counselling sessions where AI has been mentioned. AI-related harms discussed in the conversations comprise:

• Employing AI to rate body size, body and looks
• Chatbots discouraging children from consulting safe adults about harm
• Facing harassment online with AI-generated material
• Digital extortion using AI-manipulated images

Between April and September this year, Childline delivered 367 counselling interactions where AI, conversational AI and related topics were discussed, significantly more as many as in the same period last year.

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