The European Commission has designated OpenAI’s ChatGPT a “Very Large Online Search Engine” (VLOSE) under the Digital Services Act, the EU’s toughest oversight regime for digital services. The August 31 decision marks the first time a generative AI chatbot has landed in the DSA’s highest-scrutiny tier, alongside new “Very Large Online Platform” designations for Reddit and Roblox handed down the same day.
Why a chatbot counts as a search engine
The Commission classified ChatGPT as a “hybrid service” that meets the DSA’s definition of an online search engine because it can respond to user prompts “including by searching the web,” rather than answering solely from its training data. The designation kicks in automatically once a service’s own reporting shows more than 45 million average monthly active users in the European Union; OpenAI disclosed that ChatGPT’s search function reached roughly 159 million average monthly EU users over the six months ending in March, well past that threshold.
New obligations, four months to comply
Under the DSA’s strictest tier, OpenAI must now run annual assessments of the systemic risks ChatGPT poses — including illegal content, harm to minors, effects on mental and physical wellbeing, threats to fundamental rights, and risks to elections and public security — submit to independent external audits, and share data with regulators and vetted outside researchers. Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, said the designations mean “ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox will now be held to a higher standard of scrutiny and accountability in the European Union, in line with their large impact on our citizens and society.” Companies have four months from notification to come into compliance; falling short can draw fines of up to 6% of global annual turnover.
The Commission stressed that the designation itself is not a finding of wrongdoing. But it lands just weeks after OpenAI expanded ChatGPT advertising to 31 European markets, underscoring how fast the chatbot’s footprint — and its regulatory exposure — is growing under the bloc’s toughest regulation regime.