ChatGPT has become the first artificial intelligence chatbot to face the European Union’s toughest digital platform rules after Brussels designated it a “very large” online platform, bringing the service under additional legal obligations and closer regulatory scrutiny.
The European Commission announced the decision on Monday, adding ChatGPT to the same regulatory category as Reddit and Roblox. All three services have reported more than 45 million monthly active users in the European Union, the threshold required for the designation under the bloc’s Digital Services Act.
EU technology chief Henna Virkkunen said the decision would place the three services under a higher level of accountability because of the scale of their reach and their potential effect on users and society.
“ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox will now be held to a higher standard of scrutiny and accountability in the European Union,” Virkkunen said.
The decision gives each company four months to meet the additional requirements imposed on very large online platforms under the Digital Services Act, commonly known as the DSA.
New responsibilities for ChatGPT
The designation marks a significant expansion of the European Union’s oversight of generative artificial intelligence services.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT is already subject to obligations under the EU’s AI Act, the bloc’s separate legislation governing artificial intelligence. The DSA introduces another layer of regulation, requiring the company to examine broader risks arising from the way the service operates and how users interact with it.
Under the new rules, ChatGPT will have to assess and address risks linked to the spread of illegal content, the effects of its service on children and teenagers, users’ physical and mental wellbeing, fundamental rights, elections and public security.
The European Commission classified ChatGPT as a search engine for the purposes of bringing it within the DSA framework.
That classification reflects the way the chatbot can provide users with information and answers at enormous scale, even though ChatGPT is primarily known as a generative AI system rather than a conventional search engine.
OpenAI reported more than 159 million users in the European Union at the end of March. That figure represents more than one third of the bloc’s population and puts the service well above the threshold for the stricter category.
The move could have implications beyond OpenAI because it establishes an early regulatory test for large generative AI systems operating across Europe.
Lena Maria Boswald of German technology think tank Interface said before the announcement that the decision could influence how regulators approach other large AI services.
She said the move would create a precedent and could shape regulatory expectations for other major generative AI systems used in the European Union.
OpenAI already faces risk management requirements under the AI Act, Boswald said, but the Digital Services Act could extend the areas in which the company must identify and address potential harm.
That means the company will have to deal with more than the technical performance of its AI system. Regulators will also be looking at wider consequences associated with its enormous user base and the ways people rely on the chatbot for information and other tasks.
Roblox and Reddit also face greater scrutiny
The European Commission’s decision does not single out ChatGPT.
Roblox, a US based gaming platform with a particularly large audience among children, has also been classified as a very large online platform. The company says it has 46.6 million active players in the European Union, placing it only slightly above the 45 million user threshold.
The platform allows users to play games and interact in a virtual environment built around colourful graphics and user generated experiences. Its popularity among younger users has made questions surrounding child safety and online wellbeing especially significant as European regulators increase oversight of major digital services.
Reddit has also been placed in the same category. The discussion platform says it has more than 57 million users across the European Union.
Unlike ChatGPT and Roblox, Reddit operates primarily as a network of online communities where users post material, discuss topics and share links, images and other content. The size and variety of those communities create their own regulatory challenges, particularly concerning illegal material, harmful content and the protection of users’ rights.
All three companies will now have to comply with the additional obligations attached to their new status within four months.
EU steps up pressure on Big Tech
The latest designations come as Brussels continues to tighten enforcement of its digital laws, including against some of the world’s largest American technology companies.
The Digital Services Act is one of the main tools the European Union uses to impose greater responsibility on large online platforms. It requires companies operating at enormous scale to identify systemic risks and take steps to reduce them rather than simply responding to individual complaints after harmful material has appeared.
The EU has already used the legislation to challenge major technology companies over issues ranging from transparency to platform design.
TikTok, which is among roughly 30 services already classified as very large online platforms, has recently been ordered by European authorities to make changes to features regulators considered potentially addictive. Failure to comply with EU requirements can result in substantial financial penalties.
The list of very large online platforms includes some of the biggest names in technology and ecommerce. Google, Apple, Microsoft, TikTok, X, Amazon and Shein are among the companies operating services covered by the rules.
The list also extends beyond traditional technology giants. Several adult websites and the collaborative online encyclopedia Wikipedia are included, reflecting the broad reach of the European Union’s digital regulatory framework.
The DSA applies to both online platforms and search engines that exceed the 45 million monthly active user threshold in the European Union.
Fines can reach six percent of global revenue
The financial consequences of violating the rules can be severe.
Companies found to have breached the Digital Services Act can face fines of as much as six percent of their annual worldwide turnover. In cases involving serious and repeated violations, the European Union can also take steps that could ultimately prevent a company from operating in the bloc.
The EU has already imposed penalties under the law.
Shopping platforms Temu and AliExpress have faced enforcement action, while Elon Musk’s social media platform X has also been fined. X was ordered to pay 120 million euros, equivalent to about US$138 million, for violations involving transparency and other requirements.
Those cases have demonstrated that the DSA is not simply a set of voluntary standards. European regulators have shown that they are prepared to impose financial penalties when companies fail to meet their obligations.
The approach has also created tensions between Brussels and Washington. US technology companies account for a large share of the platforms subject to European digital regulation, while successive US officials and industry representatives have criticised some EU measures as unfair or excessively restrictive.
The European Union has nevertheless continued to expand enforcement.
AI regulation enters a new phase
The decision concerning ChatGPT comes as Europe builds two overlapping regulatory systems for artificial intelligence and online services.
The AI Act, which entered into force in 2024, established a separate set of rules covering artificial intelligence according to the level of risk associated with different applications. Its provisions are being introduced gradually, with some obligations already applying and others scheduled to take effect over several years.
The Digital Services Act addresses a different question. Rather than focusing only on whether an AI system itself presents a particular level of technological risk, it examines the wider responsibilities of services with very large audiences.
For OpenAI, that distinction could prove important.
ChatGPT is no longer a niche technology used primarily by early adopters. Its European user base is large enough to meet the same threshold applied to the biggest social networks, online marketplaces and search services.
The EU decision therefore places generative AI directly inside the regulatory system originally built to address the risks associated with the largest internet platforms.
For users, the practical effects may emerge gradually as OpenAI introduces new risk assessments, safeguards and processes to meet the additional requirements.
For regulators, ChatGPT offers an important test of how existing online platform rules can be applied to a rapidly developing AI service.
The four month compliance period now gives OpenAI, Reddit and Roblox a defined deadline to meet the new obligations. The companies will have to demonstrate not only that they can serve millions of European users, but also that they have systems in place to identify and reduce risks associated with their scale.
The EU’s message is clear: once a digital service reaches tens of millions of European users, its responsibilities extend beyond providing a popular product. Its operators must also account for the consequences their platforms can have on users, public debate, children, elections and wider society.