UK Moves AI Into Separate Regulatory Lane for Child Safety

The UK government's closed consultation on children's online experiences, which ran from March to May 2026, explicitly canvassed new duties for AI developers—signaling a departure from earlier regulatory focus on social media platforms alone. The move mirrors EU AI Act provisions on prohibited practices targeting minors. Whether Whitehall will tighten existing Online Safety Act definitions or create AI-specific duty-of-care provisions remains unclear pending a formal government response, likely months away.