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Tech firms and child safety organizations will be granted permission to evaluate whether artificial intelligence tools can produce child exploitation material under new UK legislation.

Significant Rise in AI-Generated Harmful Material

The announcement coincided with findings from a protection monitoring body showing that cases of AI-generated child sexual abuse material have increased dramatically in the past year, growing from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025.

New Legal Structure

Under the changes, the authorities will allow designated AI companies and child protection groups to inspect AI systems – the underlying technology for chatbots and image generators – and ensure they have adequate safeguards to stop them from creating depictions of child exploitation.

"Ultimately about stopping exploitation before it happens," declared the minister for AI and online safety, noting: "Experts, under strict protocols, can now identify the risk in AI systems early."

Addressing Legal Challenges

The changes have been implemented because it is illegal to produce and own CSAM, meaning that AI creators and others cannot generate such images as part of a evaluation regime. Until now, authorities had to wait until AI-generated CSAM was published online before addressing it.

This law is aimed at preventing that issue by enabling to halt the creation of those images at their origin.

Legal Structure

The amendments are being added by the authorities as revisions to the criminal justice legislation, which is also establishing a prohibition on owning, producing or sharing AI systems developed to create exploitative content.

Practical Impact

This week, the official toured the London base of a children's helpline and listened to a simulated call to advisors featuring a report of AI-based abuse. The call portrayed a teenager requesting help after being blackmailed using a sexualised deepfake of themselves, created using AI.

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

Alarming Data

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

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

• Female children were overwhelmingly victimized, making up 94% of prohibited AI images in 2025
• Portrayals of infants to toddlers increased from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Sector Response

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

"AI tools have made it so victims can be victimised all over again with just a simple actions, providing criminals the capability to make potentially endless quantities of advanced, lifelike child sexual abuse material," she added. "Content which additionally commodifies victims' suffering, and renders young people, particularly female children, more vulnerable both online and offline."

Support Interaction Data

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

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

Between April and September this year, Childline delivered 367 counselling sessions where AI, chatbots and related terms were discussed, four times as many as in the equivalent timeframe last year.

Fifty percent of the references of AI in the 2025 interactions were related to mental health and wellbeing, including utilizing AI assistants for assistance and AI therapeutic applications.