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Tech firms and child protection agencies will receive authority to evaluate whether artificial intelligence systems can produce child abuse images under recently introduced UK legislation.

Substantial Rise in AI-Generated Illegal Material

The declaration coincided with findings from a protection monitoring body showing that reports of AI-generated CSAM have increased dramatically in the last twelve months, rising from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025.

New Legal Structure

Under the amendments, the government will permit approved AI companies and child protection organizations to examine AI models – the underlying systems for conversational AI and visual AI tools – and verify they have sufficient protective measures to stop them from creating images of child sexual abuse.

"Fundamentally about preventing abuse before it occurs," stated the minister for AI and online safety, noting: "Specialists, under strict conditions, can now detect the danger in AI systems promptly."

Tackling Legal Obstacles

The changes have been introduced because it is illegal to create and own CSAM, meaning that AI creators and other parties cannot generate such content as part of a evaluation regime. Previously, 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 production of those images at their origin.

Legislative Structure

The changes are being introduced by the authorities as modifications to the criminal justice legislation, which is also implementing a prohibition on owning, creating or distributing AI systems designed to generate child sexual abuse material.

Practical Impact

This week, the official visited the London headquarters of a children's helpline and heard a mock-up conversation to counsellors featuring a account of AI-based exploitation. The interaction portrayed a adolescent requesting help after being blackmailed using a sexualised AI-generated image of themselves, created using AI.

"When I hear about children experiencing blackmail online, it is a cause of intense frustration in me and justified concern amongst families," he said.

Alarming Data

A leading online safety organization stated that instances of AI-generated abuse material – such as online pages that may contain numerous images – had more than doubled so far this year.

Cases of category A material – the gravest form of abuse – rose from 2,621 visual files to 3,086.

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

Sector Reaction

The legislative amendment could "represent a crucial step to guarantee AI products are secure before they are released," stated the head of the internet monitoring foundation.

"AI tools have made it so victims can be targeted repeatedly with just a few clicks, providing criminals the ability to make possibly endless quantities of advanced, lifelike exploitative content," she added. "Material which further commodifies survivors' trauma, and renders children, particularly female children, less safe on and off line."

Support Session Data

The children's helpline also published information of support sessions where AI has been referenced. AI-related harms mentioned in the sessions comprise:

• Employing AI to evaluate body size, body and looks
• Chatbots dissuading children from consulting safe adults about harm
• Being bullied online with AI-generated content
• Online extortion using AI-faked pictures

Between April and September this year, Childline conducted 367 support interactions where AI, chatbots and related terms were mentioned, four times 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 wellbeing, encompassing using AI assistants for support and AI therapy apps.