EU may classify ChatGPT as a platform
Europe is weighing whether to treat ChatGPT as a “large online platform” that would face stricter rules under the Digital Services Act. (thehindu.com) If designated, the service would be subject to tougher obligations on risk management, transparency and oversight — a move regulators say would treat conversational AI as infrastructure shaping public information flows. ( )
The European Commission said on April 10 it is analyzing whether ChatGPT should be classified under the Digital Services Act as a very large online service. (msn.com) The review started after OpenAI disclosed that ChatGPT search reached about 120.4 million average monthly active recipients in the European Union in the six months ending September 30, 2025. The Digital Services Act threshold for a very large online platform or very large online search engine is 45 million monthly users in the bloc. (help.openai.com, digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) The European Commission has not yet said whether it would classify ChatGPT as a very large online platform or a very large online search engine. Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said the assessment is being done case by case, including for services built on large language models. (thehindu.com) The Digital Services Act is the European Union law for online intermediaries such as marketplaces, social networks, app stores and search engines. For the biggest services, it adds direct Commission oversight and extra duties tied to illegal content, fundamental rights, public security and public health. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu, digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) A designation would give ChatGPT four months to comply with the strictest part of the law. Those rules require systemic risk assessments, risk-mitigation measures, an internal compliance function, and reporting to the Commission. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) The Commission’s own guidance says those extra rules are meant for services whose scale can affect freedom of expression, media pluralism, electoral processes, consumer protection, children’s rights and public wellbeing. That is the legal frame regulators are now testing against a chatbot that increasingly acts like a search and information tool. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) OpenAI has already published a Digital Services Act contact point for European authorities through the Kodex government portal and says the 120.4 million figure was calculated only for compliance with the law. The company did not comment publicly on the possible designation in the Reuters report carried by multiple outlets. (help.openai.com, msn.com) The Commission’s list of designated services, updated April 1, 2026, already includes companies such as Amazon, Apple, AliExpress and Pornhub. If ChatGPT is added, Europe would be applying the same top-tier platform rules to a conversational artificial intelligence service that it already applies to giant search and distribution systems. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu)
