UK to look at further regulating AI to protect from fraud
Key Points
- Ofcom is reviewing whether its telecoms rules protect customers as AI use grows across the sector.
- The regulator named three concerns: vulnerable customers, heightened fraud risk and customers uncomfortable using AI.
- Ofcom is researching customer awareness and ability to use AI tools, drawing on international markets.
- Findings will be published in the second half of 2026.
- 54% of UK adults now report using AI tools, up from 31% in 2024.
Ofcom is examining whether its current telecoms rules protect customers as providers adopt more AI and has named fraud, vulnerable customers, and people who do not want to use AI as the three concerns driving the work.
The regulator set out the review in its strategic approach to AI for 2026/27, published on Thursday (4 June).
Ofcom said it is investigating how residential and business customers, telecoms companies and third-party applications across the telecoms value chain are currently using AI tools, and how AI that interacts directly with customers might evolve.
The regulator said it will publish its findings in the second half of 2026.
What Ofcom is looking at
Ofcom said it is considering whether any changes to its rules are required to protect customers from potential harms linked to AI. The regulator named three specific questions it is weighing as part of the work.
First, Ofcom said it might consider whether the protections it currently has in place for consumers in vulnerable situations are adequate.
Second, the regulator said it would look at whether the adoption of AI might heighten the risk that people and businesses become victims of fraud.
Third, Ofcom said it would assess whether protections might be needed for customers who do not feel comfortable using AI tools.
How the research is being run
Ofcom said it is conducting research into customers’ awareness of AI tools and their ability to use them.
The regulator said this includes examining developments in international telecoms markets and in other sectors of the UK economy to understand how customer facing AI is being deployed elsewhere.
Ofcom said it has been engaging with industry through individual discussions and a roundtable as part of the work. The regulator said it wants to understand both the current use of AI tools across the telecoms market and the potential future evolution of how customers engage with those markets.
The wider AI picture
Ofcom said adoption of AI tools has risen sharply among the public. The regulator reported that over half of adults, at 54%, now say they use AI tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini, up from 31% who said the same in 2024.
Ofcom said its regulation is broadly technology neutral, which means the companies it regulates can deploy AI without seeking its approval, provided they are confident they can do so responsibly.
The regulator said it operates with a bias against intervention but a willingness to act where AI enabled harms arise. Ofcom said that where markets are unable to mitigate risks, it will use its existing powers to prevent harm.
The telecoms review sits within a wider programme of AI work Ofcom set out across online safety, broadcasting, spectrum and post.
The regulator said it will continue to use its powers under the Communications Act 2003, as amended by the Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021, to address security and resilience risks arising from AI in telecoms networks.
