🔗 Share this article British Technology Companies and Child Protection Agencies to Test AI's Capability to Create Exploitation Content Tech firms and child protection organizations will be granted permission to evaluate whether AI systems can produce child abuse material under new UK laws. Substantial Increase in AI-Generated Harmful Content The announcement came as findings from a safety monitoring body showing that reports of AI-generated child sexual abuse material have increased dramatically in the last twelve months, growing from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025. Updated Legal Structure Under the changes, the government will allow approved AI companies and child protection organizations to inspect AI systems – the underlying technology for conversational AI and visual AI tools – and ensure they have adequate protective measures to prevent them from creating depictions of child sexual abuse. "Fundamentally about preventing abuse before it occurs," declared the minister for AI and online safety, noting: "Specialists, under strict protocols, can now identify the danger in AI models early." Addressing Regulatory Obstacles The changes have been introduced because it is against the law to produce and own CSAM, meaning that AI developers and other parties cannot create such images as part of a evaluation regime. Previously, authorities had to wait until AI-generated CSAM was uploaded online before dealing with it. This legislation is designed to preventing that issue by enabling to halt the creation of those images at source. 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, creating or sharing AI models designed to create child sexual abuse material. Practical Impact This week, the minister visited the London base of Childline and listened to a simulated call to advisors featuring a report of AI-based abuse. The interaction depicted a teenager requesting help after facing extortion using a explicit deepfake of himself, constructed using AI. "When I hear about children experiencing blackmail online, it is a source of intense anger in me and rightful anger amongst families," he stated. Concerning Data A prominent internet monitoring foundation stated that cases of AI-generated exploitation content – such as webpages that may include multiple images – had significantly increased so far this year. Cases of category A material – the most serious form of exploitation – increased from 2,621 images or videos to 3,086. Girls were overwhelmingly victimized, accounting for 94% of illegal AI depictions in 2025 Depictions of infants to two-year-olds rose from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025 Industry Response The legislative amendment could "represent a crucial step to guarantee AI products are safe before they are launched," stated the head of the internet monitoring foundation. "AI tools have made it so victims can be victimised repeatedly with just a simple actions, giving criminals the capability to create potentially endless amounts of advanced, lifelike child sexual abuse material," she continued. "Material which further commodifies survivors' trauma, and renders young people, especially girls, more vulnerable on and off line." Counseling Session Information The children's helpline also released details of counselling sessions where AI has been mentioned. AI-related harms mentioned in the conversations include: Employing AI to evaluate weight, physique and appearance AI assistants dissuading young people from consulting safe adults about abuse Facing harassment online with AI-generated material Online extortion using AI-manipulated pictures During April and September this year, Childline conducted 367 counselling interactions where AI, chatbots and related terms were mentioned, significantly more as many as in the same period last year. Fifty percent of the references of AI in the 2025 interactions were connected with psychological wellbeing and wellbeing, including using chatbots for support and AI therapy applications.