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Tech firms and child safety agencies will be granted authority to assess whether artificial intelligence systems can generate child abuse material under new British laws.

Significant Rise in AI-Generated Illegal Material

The declaration coincided with findings from a safety watchdog 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.

Updated Regulatory Structure

Under the changes, the government will allow approved AI developers and child protection organizations to examine AI systems – the underlying systems for conversational AI and visual AI tools – and ensure they have adequate safeguards to prevent them from producing depictions of child sexual abuse.

"Fundamentally about stopping abuse before it occurs," stated the minister for AI and online safety, noting: "Experts, under rigorous protocols, can now detect the danger in AI systems early."

Tackling Legal Challenges

The amendments have been implemented because it is against the law to produce and possess CSAM, meaning that AI creators and others cannot create such content as part of a testing regime. Until now, officials had to delay action until AI-generated CSAM was uploaded online before dealing with it.

This legislation is designed to preventing that problem by helping to stop the production of those images at their origin.

Legislative Framework

The changes are being added by the authorities as modifications to the crime and policing bill, which is also establishing a ban on possessing, producing or sharing AI systems developed to generate child sexual abuse material.

Real-World Impact

This week, the official visited the London base of a children's helpline and heard a simulated conversation to advisors involving a report of AI-based abuse. The interaction depicted a teenager requesting help after being blackmailed using a sexualised deepfake of himself, constructed using AI.

"When I learn about young people facing blackmail online, it is a source of extreme frustration in me and justified anger amongst families," he said.

Alarming Statistics

A prominent online safety foundation stated that instances of AI-generated abuse content – such as online pages that may contain multiple files – had significantly increased so far this year.

Instances of the most severe material – the gravest form of abuse – rose from 2,621 images or videos to 3,086.

• Female children were overwhelmingly targeted, accounting for 94% of prohibited AI depictions in 2025
• Depictions of newborns to two-year-olds increased from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Sector Response

The law change could "constitute a vital step to guarantee AI products are safe before they are launched," commented the head of the internet monitoring organization.

"AI tools have made it so survivors can be victimised repeatedly with just a few clicks, providing offenders the capability to create possibly endless quantities of sophisticated, lifelike exploitative content," she added. "Material which further commodifies survivors' suffering, and makes young people, especially female children, less safe on and off line."

Counseling Interaction Data

The children's helpline also released details of counselling sessions where AI has been referenced. AI-related harms discussed in the sessions comprise:

• Employing AI to rate weight, body and looks
• AI assistants dissuading children from consulting safe adults about abuse
• Being bullied online with AI-generated material
• Online extortion using AI-manipulated pictures

Between April and September this year, the helpline delivered 367 counselling interactions where AI, conversational AI and related terms were discussed, significantly more as many as in the equivalent timeframe last year.

Fifty percent of the mentions of AI in the 2025 sessions were related to mental health and wellness, encompassing utilizing chatbots for support and AI therapeutic apps.