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Technology companies and child safety organizations will be granted permission to evaluate whether AI systems can produce child exploitation images under recently introduced British laws.

Substantial Increase in AI-Generated Illegal Content

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

Updated Legal Framework

Under the changes, the government will permit approved AI developers and child safety organizations to examine AI models – the underlying systems for chatbots and visual AI tools – and verify they have sufficient safeguards to prevent them from creating images of child sexual abuse.

"Ultimately about preventing exploitation before it happens," declared the minister for AI and online safety, adding: "Experts, under strict conditions, can now identify the risk in AI models promptly."

Tackling Legal Obstacles

The amendments have been implemented because it is against the law to create and own CSAM, meaning that AI developers and others cannot create such content as part of a evaluation regime. Previously, officials had to delay action until AI-generated CSAM was published online before dealing with it.

This legislation is aimed at preventing that issue by helping to stop the production of those images at source.

Legal Structure

The changes are being introduced by the government as modifications to the crime and policing bill, which is also establishing a prohibition on owning, creating or distributing AI systems developed to generate child sexual abuse material.

Practical Impact

This week, the minister toured the London base of Childline and listened to a simulated call to advisors featuring a account of AI-based exploitation. The call portrayed a adolescent requesting help after being blackmailed using a explicit deepfake of themselves, created using AI.

"When I hear about children experiencing blackmail online, it is a cause of extreme anger in me and rightful concern amongst families," he stated.

Concerning Statistics

A leading internet monitoring foundation stated that instances of AI-generated abuse content – such as webpages that may include numerous images – had significantly increased so far this year.

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

• Female children were overwhelmingly targeted, making up 94% of illegal AI images in 2025
• Depictions of infants to toddlers rose from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Industry Response

The legislative amendment could "represent a vital step to guarantee AI tools are secure before they are launched," stated the head of the internet monitoring organization.

"Artificial intelligence systems have made it so survivors can be victimised repeatedly with just a few clicks, providing criminals the capability to create possibly limitless quantities of sophisticated, lifelike child sexual abuse material," she added. "Content which additionally exploits victims' trauma, and renders young people, especially female children, less safe both online and offline."

Counseling Session Information

Childline also released information of counselling interactions where AI has been mentioned. AI-related harms discussed in the sessions comprise:

• Employing AI to evaluate body size, body and looks
• AI assistants dissuading young people from talking to trusted adults about harm
• Being bullied online with AI-generated material
• Online blackmail using AI-manipulated pictures

Between April and September this year, Childline conducted 367 support interactions where AI, chatbots and associated topics 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 using chatbots for assistance and AI therapeutic applications.