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Technology companies and child protection organizations will receive permission to evaluate whether artificial intelligence systems can generate child exploitation material under recently introduced UK legislation.

Substantial Rise in AI-Generated Harmful Material

The declaration came as revelations from a safety monitoring body showing that cases of AI-generated child sexual abuse material have more than doubled in the past year, rising from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025.

Updated Legal Structure

Under the amendments, the authorities will permit approved AI developers and child safety organizations to examine AI systems – the foundational technology for chatbots and image generators – and verify they have sufficient protective measures to prevent them from creating images of child sexual abuse.

"Fundamentally about preventing exploitation before it occurs," declared the minister for AI and online safety, noting: "Specialists, under rigorous conditions, can now identify the danger in AI systems early."

Tackling Legal Challenges

The amendments have been introduced because it is against the law to produce and own CSAM, meaning that AI creators and others cannot create such images 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 designed to preventing that problem by enabling to halt the production of those images at their origin.

Legal Framework

The changes are being added by the authorities as revisions to the criminal justice legislation, which is also implementing a prohibition on owning, creating or sharing AI models developed to generate child sexual abuse material.

Practical Impact

This recently, the official toured the London base of Childline and heard a mock-up call to counsellors involving a account of AI-based exploitation. The interaction portrayed a adolescent seeking help after facing extortion using a sexualised AI-generated image of himself, created using AI.

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

Concerning Data

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

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

• Girls were predominantly victimized, accounting for 94% of illegal AI images in 2025
• Depictions of infants to two-year-olds increased from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Sector Reaction

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

"Artificial intelligence systems have made it so victims can be victimised repeatedly with just a simple actions, providing offenders the ability to create potentially endless amounts of advanced, photorealistic child sexual abuse material," she added. "Material which additionally commodifies victims' trauma, and renders young people, particularly female children, less safe both online and offline."

Support Interaction Information

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

• Employing AI to evaluate weight, body and looks
• AI assistants dissuading young people from talking to safe guardians about abuse
• Facing harassment online with AI-generated content
• Online blackmail using AI-manipulated images

During April and September this year, Childline conducted 367 counselling interactions where AI, chatbots and related topics were mentioned, four times as many as in the same period last year.

Fifty percent of the references of AI in the 2025 sessions were connected with psychological wellbeing and wellbeing, encompassing utilizing AI assistants for support and AI therapeutic applications.