Amsterdam: 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 police agency said Friday.

The operation is one of the first involving AI-generated child abuse material, Europol said, adding that there was a lack of national legislation on the use of AI tools for this purpose.

The biggest suspect, a Danish citizen, 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 underway with authorities from 19 countries, including Australia, Spain and the United Kingdom involved.

Most of the 25 arrests were carried out at the same time on Wednesday in the operation led by Danish authorities, Europol said without identifying the countries where the arrests took place. More people are expected in the coming weeks, says it.