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Technology companies and child safety agencies will receive permission to evaluate whether artificial intelligence systems can produce child abuse material under recently introduced British legislation.

Significant Increase in AI-Generated Illegal Material

The declaration came as findings from a safety monitoring body 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.

Updated Regulatory Structure

Under the changes, the authorities will allow approved AI developers and child safety groups to examine AI systems – the foundational systems for conversational AI and image generators – and ensure they have sufficient protective measures to prevent them from producing depictions of child exploitation.

"Ultimately about stopping abuse before it happens," declared Kanishka Narayan, adding: "Specialists, under rigorous conditions, can now identify the risk in AI models early."

Tackling Regulatory Obstacles

The changes have been introduced because it is illegal to produce and possess CSAM, meaning that AI creators and other parties cannot generate such content as part of a evaluation process. Until now, authorities had to delay action until AI-generated CSAM was published online before dealing with it.

This legislation is aimed at averting that problem by helping to stop the creation of those images at source.

Legislative Framework

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

Real-World Impact

This week, the minister visited the London headquarters of Childline and listened to a simulated call to advisors featuring a account of AI-based abuse. The interaction depicted a teenager requesting help after being blackmailed using a sexualised deepfake of themselves, constructed using AI.

"When I hear about children experiencing extortion online, it is a cause of intense frustration in me and rightful concern amongst parents," he stated.

Alarming Data

A leading internet monitoring organization reported that instances of AI-generated abuse material – such as webpages that may include multiple images – had significantly increased so far this year.

Cases of category A material – the most serious form of exploitation – increased from 2,621 visual files to 3,086.

• Female children were overwhelmingly targeted, accounting for 94% of prohibited AI depictions in 2025
• Depictions of newborns to toddlers rose from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Sector Reaction

The law change could "represent a vital step to ensure AI tools are safe before they are released," stated the chief executive of the online safety foundation.

"AI tools have made it so survivors can be victimised all over again with just a few clicks, giving offenders the ability to create possibly endless amounts of sophisticated, photorealistic child sexual abuse material," she continued. "Material which further exploits survivors' suffering, and makes children, particularly female children, more vulnerable both online and offline."

Counseling Session Data

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

• Employing AI to evaluate weight, physique and looks
• AI assistants dissuading young people from talking to trusted guardians about harm
• Facing harassment online with AI-generated content
• Digital extortion using AI-faked images

During April and September this year, the helpline delivered 367 counselling interactions where AI, chatbots and related terms were mentioned, significantly more as many as in the same period last year.

Half of the references of AI in the 2025 interactions were related to psychological wellbeing and wellness, encompassing utilizing chatbots for support and AI therapy apps.