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Tech firms and child safety organizations will be granted permission to assess whether artificial intelligence systems can generate child exploitation material under recently introduced UK laws.

Significant Rise in AI-Generated Harmful Content

The declaration coincided with revelations from a protection monitoring body showing that cases of AI-generated CSAM have more than doubled in the past year, rising from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025.

Updated Legal Framework

Under the changes, the authorities will allow approved AI developers and child safety organizations to examine AI systems – the underlying technology for chatbots and image generators – and ensure they have adequate safeguards to stop them from creating depictions of child sexual abuse.

"Ultimately about stopping exploitation before it happens," declared Kanishka Narayan, noting: "Experts, under strict conditions, can now detect the risk in AI models early."

Tackling Legal Challenges

The amendments have been introduced because it is illegal to create and possess CSAM, meaning that AI creators and others cannot create such images as part of a testing regime. Until now, authorities had to wait until AI-generated CSAM was uploaded online before dealing with it.

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

Legal Structure

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

Real-World Impact

This recently, the official visited the London base of a children's helpline and listened to a mock-up call to counsellors involving a account of AI-based exploitation. The call portrayed a teenager 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 extreme anger in me and justified anger amongst parents," he said.

Alarming Data

A prominent internet monitoring foundation stated that cases of AI-generated abuse content – such as online pages that may contain multiple files – had more than doubled so far this year.

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

• Girls were predominantly victimized, making up 94% of prohibited AI depictions in 2025
• Depictions of newborns to toddlers increased from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Industry Response

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

"Artificial intelligence systems have made it so victims can be targeted all over again with just a simple actions, giving criminals the ability to create potentially endless amounts of sophisticated, lifelike exploitative content," she continued. "Content which further commodifies victims' trauma, and renders young people, especially female children, more vulnerable both online and offline."

Counseling Session Information

Childline also published details of counselling interactions where AI has been mentioned. AI-related harms discussed in the conversations include:

• Employing AI to evaluate weight, physique and looks
• Chatbots discouraging young people from talking to trusted adults about harm
• Facing harassment online with AI-generated content
• Digital extortion using AI-faked pictures

During April and September this year, Childline conducted 367 support interactions where AI, conversational AI and associated terms were mentioned, significantly more as many as in the equivalent timeframe last year.

Half of the references of AI in the 2025 interactions were related to psychological wellbeing and wellbeing, encompassing using chatbots for assistance and AI therapy applications.