United Kingdom: Office of Communications published guidance on applicability of Online Safety Act to AI chatbots

On 18 December 2025, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) issued guidance on how the Online Safety Act applies to AI chatbots. The guidance clarifies that providers of user-to-user services, search services, and services publishing pornographic content must assess and reduce the risk of harm to their users, particularly children. Chatbots that fall within these service definitions or are part of such services are covered by the Act. This includes AI-generated content shared on user-to-user services, which is regulated in the same manner as content generated by humans. However, chatbots are not subject to the Act's regulation if they only facilitate interaction with the chatbot itself without involving other users, do not search multiple websites or databases for responses, and are unable to generate pornographic content.