EU may designate OpenAI
European regulators are considering naming OpenAI as a designated provider under the Digital Services Act after ChatGPT’s reported user numbers crossed the 45 million threshold, a status that brings extra obligations. The Commission spokesman referenced the threshold and the possible designation in coverage of the move. (startupnews.fyi)
European Union regulators are assessing whether ChatGPT should face the bloc’s toughest platform rules after OpenAI reported 120.4 million monthly European users for its search feature. (openai.com) (euractiv.com) The European Commission said it is analyzing whether ChatGPT fits the Digital Services Act category for very large online services, which starts at 45 million monthly users in the European Union. OpenAI’s latest filing put ChatGPT search nearly three times above that line for the six months ending September 30, 2025. (ec.europa.eu) (openai.com) The key question is not OpenAI’s size alone but the type of service. The Commission has said large online platforms and large online search engines can be designated under the law, and a Commission spokesperson said ChatGPT is being assessed case by case. (ec.europa.eu) (euractiv.com) The Digital Services Act is the European Union’s rulebook for online intermediaries, from marketplaces to social networks to search tools. For the biggest services, Brussels directly supervises compliance instead of leaving primary enforcement to national regulators. (ec.europa.eu 1) (ec.europa.eu 2) If ChatGPT is formally designated, OpenAI would get four months to comply with the extra duties that apply to very large services. Those duties include assessing systemic risks, putting mitigation measures in place, and facing direct Commission investigations and possible fines of up to 6% of global annual turnover for violations. (ec.europa.eu 1) (ec.europa.eu 2) OpenAI’s published number covers “ChatGPT search,” not every ChatGPT interaction in Europe. An OpenAI spokesperson told Euractiv the figure refers to uses where ChatGPT searches the web during a conversation, either because a user asks for it or the system decides web search is needed. (openai.com) (euractiv.com) That distinction matters because the Digital Services Act was written for online platforms and search engines, not for every kind of artificial intelligence model. The Commission said generative artificial intelligence tools can fall under the law when they are integrated into a service category the act covers. (euractiv.com) (ec.europa.eu) The Commission’s public list of designated very large services, updated April 1, 2026, includes companies such as Amazon, Apple, AliExpress, and Pornhub, but not ChatGPT. That means any OpenAI designation would add a new kind of service to a regime that has so far focused on more familiar platform categories. (ec.europa.eu) For now, Brussels has said only that the review is underway. The next step is a Commission decision on whether ChatGPT’s search service belongs inside the Digital Services Act’s very large service bucket at all. (euractiv.com) (ec.europa.eu)
