Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 28, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 25, 2026
Europol arrested 24 individuals linked to AI-generated child abuse images. The operation involved 19 countries and highlights a lack of legislation on AI tools.
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Two dozen people were arrested this week for their role in a criminal group that distributed images generated by artificial intelligence of children being sexually abused, the European Union's police agency said on Friday.
The operation is one of the first involving AI-generated child abuse material, Europol said, adding there was a lack of national legislation surrounding the use of AI tools for this purpose.
The main suspect, a Danish national, ran an online platform where he distributed the AI-generated material he produced. Users around the world paid a "symbolic online payment" to access the platform.
The operation is ongoing, with authorities from 19 countries including Australia, Spain and the United Kingdom involved.
Most of the 25 arrests were carried out simultaneously on Wednesday in the operation led by Danish authorities, said Europol, without identifying the countries where the arrests took place. More are expected in the coming weeks, it said.
(Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Ros Russell)
The criminal group distributed images generated by artificial intelligence depicting children being sexually abused.
The main suspect was a Danish national who ran an online platform for distributing the AI-generated material.
Authorities from 19 countries, including Australia, Spain, and the United Kingdom, participated in the operation.
Europol mentioned a lack of national legislation surrounding the use of AI tools for the purpose of creating child abuse material.
Users around the world paid a 'symbolic online payment' to access the platform where the AI-generated material was distributed.
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