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Tech firms and child safety agencies will be granted permission to evaluate whether AI systems can generate child exploitation images under recently introduced British laws.

Substantial Rise in AI-Generated Harmful Material

The announcement came as revelations from a safety watchdog showing that reports of AI-generated CSAM have more than doubled in the last twelve months, growing from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025.

Updated Legal Framework

Under the changes, the government will allow approved AI developers and child protection organizations to inspect AI systems – the foundational technology for chatbots and visual AI tools – and verify they have adequate safeguards to prevent them from creating images of child sexual abuse.

"Fundamentally about stopping exploitation before it occurs," stated Kanishka Narayan, adding: "Specialists, under strict conditions, can now identify the danger in AI systems early."

Addressing Legal Challenges

The changes have been introduced because it is illegal to produce and possess CSAM, meaning that AI developers and others cannot create such images as part of a evaluation process. Until now, authorities had to delay action until AI-generated CSAM was uploaded online before addressing it.

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

Legislative Structure

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

Practical Consequences

This week, the minister toured the London base of Childline and listened to a mock-up call to advisors involving a report of AI-based abuse. The call depicted a adolescent seeking help after being blackmailed using a sexualised deepfake of themselves, created using AI.

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

Alarming Data

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

Instances of category A material – the most serious form of exploitation – rose from 2,621 images or videos to 3,086.

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

Sector Response

The law change could "represent a crucial step to ensure AI tools are safe before they are released," commented the head of the online safety organization.

"AI tools have made it so survivors can be targeted all over again with just a simple actions, providing criminals the ability to make potentially endless quantities of sophisticated, lifelike exploitative content," she added. "Material which further commodifies survivors' trauma, and makes children, especially female children, less safe on and off line."

Counseling Session Information

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

• Using AI to rate weight, physique and looks
• Chatbots discouraging children from talking to trusted guardians about abuse
• Facing harassment online with AI-generated content
• Online extortion using AI-manipulated images

Between April and September this year, Childline conducted 367 support interactions where AI, conversational AI and related topics were discussed, 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 utilizing chatbots for support and AI therapy apps.