EU reviews ChatGPT

The European Commission is reviewing whether ChatGPT should be treated as one of the European Union’s biggest online services under the Digital Services Act. (reuters.com) The review follows OpenAI’s disclosure that ChatGPT search averaged about 120.4 million monthly active recipients in the European Union in the six months ending September 30, 2025. OpenAI posted that figure in its Digital Services Act transparency materials. (help.openai.com) Under the Digital Services Act, services with more than 45 million monthly users in the bloc can be designated as Very Large Online Platforms or Very Large Online Search Engines. The European Commission says those designations trigger the law’s toughest obligations. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) The legal question is not just size. The Commission is also weighing what ChatGPT is under the law: a chatbot, a search engine, or another kind of online intermediary service that must be assessed case by case. (euractiv.com) If Brussels designates the service, OpenAI would have four months to comply after the decision. The Commission says designated services must assess and reduce systemic risks tied to illegal content, fundamental rights, public security, public health, and minors’ wellbeing. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) Those rules also reach into product design. The Commission says designated services must maintain compliance functions, give users and authorities points of contact, and provide more transparency around moderation, advertising, and recommendation systems. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) The case could test how a law written for platforms and search engines applies to generative artificial intelligence tools that answer questions in a chat box. Euractiv reported in October 2025 that OpenAI’s published European figure covered ChatGPT’s web search feature, not every use of ChatGPT. (euractiv.com) The Commission’s first Digital Services Act designations, announced on April 25, 2023, covered 17 Very Large Online Platforms and two Very Large Online Search Engines. The Commission said those first two search-engine designations were Google Search and Bing. (ec.europa.eu) OpenAI has said its published user number was calculated solely to meet Digital Services Act obligations and “should not be relied upon or used for other purposes.” Brussels has not announced a designation decision yet. (help.openai.com)