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Tech firms and child safety organizations will be granted permission to evaluate whether AI tools can produce child exploitation material under recently introduced UK laws.

Substantial Increase in AI-Generated Illegal Content

The announcement coincided with findings from a protection watchdog showing that cases of AI-generated CSAM have more than doubled in the past year, growing from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025.

Updated Regulatory Structure

Under the amendments, the government will permit designated AI companies and child safety groups to inspect AI models – the foundational systems for conversational AI and visual AI tools – and verify they have sufficient protective measures to stop them from producing depictions of child exploitation.

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

Addressing Legal Obstacles

The changes have been implemented because it is against the law to produce and own CSAM, meaning that AI developers and others cannot generate such images as part of a testing regime. Previously, officials had to wait until AI-generated CSAM was uploaded online before addressing it.

This legislation is designed to averting that issue by enabling to stop the creation of those images at source.

Legal Framework

The changes are being introduced by the government as revisions to the crime and policing bill, which is also implementing a ban on owning, producing or distributing AI models designed to generate child sexual abuse material.

Practical Impact

This recently, the minister toured the London headquarters of Childline and listened to a simulated conversation to counsellors involving a report of AI-based abuse. The interaction depicted a teenager seeking help after being blackmailed using a sexualised AI-generated image of themselves, constructed using AI.

"When I learn about children facing blackmail online, it is a cause of intense anger in me and justified anger amongst families," he stated.

Alarming Statistics

A leading internet monitoring foundation reported that instances of AI-generated abuse content – such as webpages that may contain numerous files – had more than doubled so far this year.

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

• Female children were predominantly targeted, accounting for 94% of illegal AI images in 2025
• Portrayals of newborns to two-year-olds increased from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Sector Reaction

The legislative amendment could "constitute a vital step to ensure AI products are secure before they are launched," stated the chief executive of the online safety foundation.

"Artificial intelligence systems have made it so victims can be targeted repeatedly with just a simple actions, providing offenders the capability to make potentially limitless quantities of sophisticated, photorealistic child sexual abuse material," she continued. "Material which additionally commodifies victims' suffering, and makes young people, particularly female children, less safe both online and offline."

Support Interaction Data

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

• Using AI to rate body size, physique and looks
• Chatbots discouraging young people from talking to safe guardians about harm
• Facing harassment online with AI-generated content
• Digital blackmail using AI-manipulated images

Between April and September this year, Childline delivered 367 support interactions where AI, conversational AI and related terms were discussed, four times as many as in the same period last year.

Fifty percent of the mentions of AI in the 2025 sessions were connected with mental health and wellbeing, encompassing utilizing AI assistants for assistance and AI therapy apps.