AI-Generated CSAM Threats
Artificial intelligence is supercharging the production of child sexual abuse material at an unprecedented scale.
485K
AI-CSAM Reports H1 2025
Source: NCMEC
15,036
AI CSAM items (2 years)
Source: IWF
97%
AI CSAM victims are girls
Source: IWF
65%
Category A (most severe)
Source: IWF
NCMEC AI-CSAM Reports
Reports flagged as AI-generated content
H1 2025: 380,000 from Amazon AI Services alone. Source: NCMEC, Thorn
AI-Generated CSAM Videos (IWF)
From 13 to 3,443 โ a +26,385% increase
Total AI CSAM content over 2 years: 15,036. Source: IWF 2025 Annual Report
AI Platform Reports to NCMEC (2024)
| Platform | Reports | Note |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | 32,079 | +9,650% from 2023 |
| Amazon AI Services | 30,759 | New entrant |
| Anthropic | 971 | New entrant |
OpenAI reported 80ร more child exploitation reports to NCMEC in H1 2025 vs H1 2024.
How AI Is Being Used by Predators
- โธLoRA fine-tuning enables realistic deepfakes from as few as 20 images in 15 minutes
- โธEmerging: AI-generated audio deepfakes (cloned children's voices)
- โธAgentic AI automating illegal operations
- โธDeepfake defense โ offenders claiming real abuse evidence is AI-generated
- โธEarly signs of commercialization โ AI CSAM created for blackmail and sextortion
- โธ20,254 AI-generated CSAM images found in a single forum in one month โ 90% realistic enough to be prosecuted
What Platforms Are Doing About It
- โธOpenAI โ Deployed classifiers to detect AI-generated CSAM, partners with NCMEC and Thorn, 80ร increase in reporting
- โธGoogle โ Developed CSAI Match and Content Safety API for hash-matching at scale
- โธMeta โ Uses PhotoDNA and proprietary models, though E2E encryption limits detection on Messenger
- โธAmazon AI Services โ 30.7K reports in 2024 as a new entrant; 380K reports attributed in H1 2025
- โธOpen-source models โ Remain largely unmonitored; LoRA fine-tuning creates realistic deepfakes from as few as 20 images in 15 minutes
CSAM Hosting by Country (2024)
| Country | URLs | Share | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 83,037 | 29% | |
| United States | 41,110 | 14% | |
| Poland | 8,077 | 3% | YoY: +8,488% |
62% of all CSAM hosted in EU โ the EU is the largest regional host of CSAM content globally.
Sources: IWF AI CSAM Report 2026 ยท IWF 2025 Annual Report ยท Stanford Cyberlaw ยท Thorn CyberTipline Analysis ยท Fortune (April 2026)