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Technology companies and child safety organizations will receive authority to assess whether artificial intelligence tools can produce child abuse images under new UK laws.

Significant Increase in AI-Generated Harmful Content

The announcement coincided with revelations from a safety monitoring body showing that cases of AI-generated CSAM 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 approved AI developers and child protection organizations to examine AI models – the underlying systems for chatbots and image generators – and verify they have adequate protective measures to stop them from creating depictions of child exploitation.

"Ultimately about preventing exploitation before it occurs," stated Kanishka Narayan, adding: "Experts, under strict protocols, can now identify the risk in AI systems promptly."

Tackling Legal Challenges

The amendments have been introduced because it is illegal to create and own CSAM, meaning that AI developers and other parties cannot generate such images as part of a evaluation process. Previously, officials had to delay action until AI-generated CSAM was uploaded online before dealing with it.

This legislation is designed to preventing that issue by enabling to halt the production of those images at their origin.

Legislative Structure

The amendments are being introduced by the government as revisions to the criminal justice legislation, which is also establishing a ban on owning, producing or sharing AI systems developed to generate exploitative content.

Practical Consequences

This week, the minister toured the London base of Childline and heard a simulated call to advisors featuring a report of AI-based abuse. The call portrayed a adolescent seeking help after being blackmailed using a explicit AI-generated image of themselves, constructed using AI.

"When I hear about young people experiencing extortion online, it is a cause of extreme anger in me and rightful concern amongst families," he stated.

Alarming Data

A prominent internet monitoring foundation reported that cases of AI-generated abuse material – such as online pages that may include multiple files – had more than doubled so far this year.

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

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

Sector Response

The legislative amendment could "represent a vital step to guarantee AI products are safe before they are launched," stated the chief executive of the internet monitoring foundation.

"AI tools have enabled so victims can be targeted all over again with just a simple actions, providing criminals the capability to make possibly limitless amounts of sophisticated, photorealistic exploitative content," she added. "Material which further exploits victims' trauma, and renders children, especially female children, less safe on and off line."

Counseling Session Information

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

• Using AI to evaluate body size, body and appearance
• AI assistants discouraging young people from talking to trusted adults about harm
• Facing harassment online with AI-generated material
• Digital blackmail using AI-manipulated pictures

During April and September this year, the helpline conducted 367 support interactions where AI, chatbots and related topics were mentioned, significantly more as many as in the equivalent timeframe last year.

Fifty percent of the mentions of AI in the 2025 interactions were connected with psychological wellbeing and wellbeing, including using AI assistants for assistance and AI therapy applications.