AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery reaching ‘tipping point’, says watchdog

The Internet Watch Foundation, a charity based in Cambridge, UK, but with a global remit, said most of the content was accessible on the open web. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

Child sexual abuse imagery generated by artificial intelligence tools is becoming more prevalent on the open web and reaching a “tipping point”, according to a safety watchdog.

The Internet Watch Foundation said the amount of AI-made illegal content it had seen online over the past six months had already exceeded the total for the previous year.