New powers will see government authorise designated bodies like AI developers and child protection organisations to scrutinise artificial intelligence (AI) models, and ensure safeguards are in place to prevent them generating or proliferating child sexual abuse material, including indecent images and videos of children.
Currently, criminal liability to create and possess such materials means developers can’t carry out safety testing on AI models, and images can only be removed after they have been created and shared online. The new measures aim to stop the production of such images at source.
The changes have been tabled as an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill.
The move comes amid an increase in the number of reported AI-generated child sexual abuse materials over the past 12 months. Data from the Internet Watch Foundation suggests the number of child sexual abuse materials have more than doubled; there has also been a disturbing rise in depictions of infants.
Category A content – images involving penetrative sexual activity, images involving sexual activity with an animal, or sadism – rose from 2,621 to 3,086 items, now accounting for 56% of all illegal material compared to 41% last year. Girls have been overwhelmingly targeted, making up 94% of illegal AI images in 2025 according to Internet Watch Foundation research.
The laws will enable organisations to check AI models have protections against extreme pornography, and non-consensual intimate images.
While possessing and generating child sexual abuse material is already illegal under UK law, both real and synthetically produced by AI, improving AI image and video capabilities present a growing challenge.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said:
“We will not allow technological advancement to outpace our ability to keep children safe. These new laws will ensure AI systems can be made safe at the source, preventing vulnerabilities that could put children at risk.
“By empowering trusted organisations to scrutinise their AI models, we are ensuring child safety is designed into AI systems, not bolted on as an afterthought.”
Jess Phillips, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, added:
“We must make sure children are kept safe online and that our laws keep up with the latest threats. This new measure will mean legitimate AI tools cannot be manipulated into creating vile material and more children will be protected from predators as a result.”
