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

Significant Increase in AI-Generated Harmful Content

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

New Legal Framework

Under the amendments, the authorities will permit approved AI companies and child safety organizations to examine AI systems – the foundational technology for conversational AI and image generators – and ensure they have adequate protective measures to prevent them from producing depictions of child sexual abuse.

"Ultimately about stopping abuse before it happens," declared Kanishka Narayan, noting: "Specialists, under strict conditions, can now detect the danger in AI models promptly."

Tackling Legal Challenges

The amendments have been implemented because it is illegal to produce and possess CSAM, meaning that AI creators and other parties cannot create such content as part of a evaluation regime. Previously, authorities had to wait until AI-generated CSAM was uploaded online before dealing with it.

This law is designed to averting that problem by helping to halt the production of those images at their origin.

Legislative 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 create child sexual abuse material.

Practical Impact

This week, the minister visited the London base of a children's helpline and heard a simulated call to counsellors featuring a report of AI-based exploitation. The call portrayed a adolescent seeking help after facing extortion using a sexualised deepfake of themselves, created using AI.

"When I learn about children experiencing extortion online, it is a cause of extreme frustration in me and rightful concern amongst parents," he stated.

Concerning Data

A leading internet monitoring foundation stated that cases of AI-generated abuse content – such as webpages that may contain multiple files – had significantly increased so far this year.

Cases of category A content – the gravest form of abuse – rose from 2,621 visual files to 3,086.

• Female children were predominantly victimized, accounting for 94% of prohibited AI images in 2025
• Portrayals of infants to two-year-olds increased from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Sector Response

The law change could "constitute a crucial step to guarantee AI products are safe before they are released," stated the chief executive of the online safety organization.

"Artificial intelligence systems have enabled so victims can be targeted all over again with just a simple actions, providing offenders the ability to make potentially limitless quantities of advanced, photorealistic exploitative content," she continued. "Content which additionally exploits victims' suffering, and renders children, especially female children, more vulnerable on and off line."

Counseling Session Data

The children's helpline also published details of support sessions where AI has been mentioned. AI-related risks mentioned in the sessions comprise:

• Employing AI to evaluate weight, body and appearance
• Chatbots discouraging children from consulting trusted guardians about abuse
• Being bullied online with AI-generated material
• Digital blackmail using AI-manipulated pictures

During April and September this year, the helpline delivered 367 counselling interactions where AI, conversational AI and associated topics were mentioned, four times as many as in the same period last year.

Fifty percent of the mentions of AI in the 2025 sessions were connected with mental health and wellbeing, encompassing utilizing chatbots for assistance and AI therapeutic applications.