EU Eyes ChatGPT under DSA

Brussels is weighing whether ChatGPT should face the European Union’s toughest platform rules after OpenAI reported user numbers above the Digital Services Act threshold. (ec.europa.eu) (help.openai.com) (economictimes.indiatimes.com) The Digital Services Act sets a 45 million average monthly user threshold in the European Union for “very large online platforms” and “very large online search engines.” The European Commission said services above that line must follow the law’s strictest rules. (ec.europa.eu 1) (ec.europa.eu 2) OpenAI said in its European Union filing that ChatGPT search had about 120.4 million average monthly active recipients in the bloc over the six months ending September 2025. Reuters, via Economic Times, reported on April 10, 2026 that the Commission is now evaluating whether ChatGPT qualifies for tighter oversight under that framework. (help.openai.com) (globalbankingandfinance.com) (economictimes.indiatimes.com) That question reaches beyond a user count. The Digital Services Act applies special duties to services that distribute or rank information at massive scale, including annual risk assessments, outside audits, data access for vetted researchers, and stronger crisis-response and transparency systems. (ec.europa.eu 1) (ec.europa.eu 2) The case also sits on top of other European Union rulebooks already aimed at artificial intelligence and data handling. The Commission said in a December 2025 review that the Digital Services Act interacts with dozens of other European Union laws, including privacy and data-protection rules, while the bloc has also issued election guidance aimed at generative artificial intelligence systems. (ec.europa.eu 1) (ec.europa.eu 2) OpenAI already publishes Digital Services Act transparency material through OpenAI Ireland Limited, including contact points for regulators and reporting on content moderation and notices. The company’s help page says the monthly-recipient figure it disclosed covers “ChatGPT search,” not every possible ChatGPT use case. (help.openai.com) (cdn.openai.com) (cdn.openai.com) The Commission has designated other services after investigating whether they crossed the threshold, including Pornhub, Stripchat, and XVideos in December 2023. Those decisions show Brussels can move from published user figures to a formal designation process when it concludes a service meets the legal test. (ec.europa.eu) (ec.europa.eu) OpenAI has not publicly laid out a detailed response to a possible ChatGPT designation beyond confirming its data publication and existing compliance steps. The next move belongs to Brussels: decide whether ChatGPT is just an artificial intelligence tool under sector rules, or also a platform large enough to be regulated like the internet’s biggest distribution systems. (help.openai.com) (economictimes.indiatimes.com)