Home Secretary Suella Braverman, alongside US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, committed to exploring further joint action to tackle the rise of such material during Ms Braverman’s visit to Washington DC.

Ms Braverman said: “Child sexual abuse is a truly abhorrent crime and one of the challenges of our age. Its proliferation online does not respect borders and must be combatted across the globe.

“That is why we are working to tackle the sickening rise of AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery which incites paedophiles to commit more offences and also obstructs law enforcement from finding real victims online.

“It is therefore vital we work hand-in-glove with our close partners in the US to tackle it. I commend the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), who work tirelessly to keep children safe around the world. Social media companies must take responsibility and prioritise child safety on their platforms.”

Investigations by the Internet Watch Foundation have found that AI-generated images of children being abused are growing, with some depicting the worst kind of offending under UK and US law. The organisation has also uncovered an online ‘manual’ dedicated to helping offenders refine their prompts and train AI to return more and more realistic results.