UK Prime Minister Targets AI Chatbots in New Child Safety Push

Last updated on March 8th, 2026 at 11:03 pm

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a significant crackdown on artificial intelligence chatbots to close legal loopholes that allow the generation of vile, illegal content.

In a Substack post on Sunday, February 15, 2026, the Prime Minister announced to parents and young people a forthcoming amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill. This change will mandate that all AI chatbot providers must adhere strictly to the illegal content provisions of the existing Online Safety Act.

UK plans to tighten online safety laws for AI chatbots
Keir Starmer announced measures to close a gap in the Online Safety Act. The government will amend the Crime and Policing Bill to make AI chatbots
such as Grok, ChatGPT and Gemini subject to the new rules.
Companies that… pic.twitter.com/14ZKH3zwns
— Pirat_Nation 🔴 (@Pirat_Nation) February 16, 2026

The move follows recent regulatory intervention against xAI’s Grok, which was found to have generated millions of sexualised images, including thousands depicting children. Starmer emphasised that under his government, no platform gets a free pass when it involves the safety of minors in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Closing the Grok loophole for safer AI interactions

The government’s immediate focus involves closing a technical gap where AI-generated content was previously exempt from certain regulations if it did not involve internet searching or user-to-user sharing.

Under the new measures, makers of AI chatbots could face massive fines up to 10% of global revenue or have their services blocked in the UK if they fail to implement robust safeguards. These safeguards must proactively detect and block illegal material, such as child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and non-consensual intimate imagery, before it ever reaches the user.

Future restrictions on social media and digital consent

Beyond chatbots, the UK government is laying the groundwork for even stricter controls through a digital wellbeing consultation launching in March 2026. Officials are considering an Australian-style ban on social media for children under 16, alongside restrictions on addictive design features like infinite scrolling.

The Prime Minister also highlighted “Jools’ Law,” a measure that would require tech companies to preserve a child’s social media data following their death to assist bereaved families in understanding the circumstances of the tragedy.

Meanwhile, the UK appointed HSBC to lead its landmark Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) pilot, leveraging the bank’s Orion blockchain to modernize sovereign debt with near real-time, low-friction digital bond settlement.

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