LONDON

The UK government on Wednesday announced new legislation aimed at preventing Artificial Intelligence (AI) from being misused to generate child sexual abuse material, in what officials describe as a world-leading move to protect children online.

Under the plans, the technology secretary and home secretary will gain new powers to authorize AI developers and child protection organizations including the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to test AI models and ensure they cannot be exploited to produce illegal content.

The move comes as new figures from the IWF reveal a sharp rise in reports of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, which have more than doubled in the past year from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025.

Particularly alarming is a surge in depictions of infants, with reports involving 0-2 year-olds rising from five to 92.

Gender analysis shows that girls continue to be overwhelmingly targeted, accounting for 94% of illegal AI-generated images in 2025, although there has been a slight rise in the number of boys depicted.

Currently, criminal laws make it illegal to create or possess such material, meaning developers cannot safely test AI systems to detect weaknesses before they are exploited.

The new laws will allow authorized testers to scrutinize models in a controlled environment, ensuring safeguards are built in from the outset.

“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,” Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said in a statement.

“By empowering trusted organizations to scrutinize their AI models, we are ensuring child safety is designed into AI systems, not bolted on as an afterthought.”