EU weighs ChatGPT as a platform
Europe is considering whether ChatGPT should be regulated like a large online platform under the Digital Services Act, a move that would extend platform-style obligations to a general-purpose AI assistant. The discussion follows disclosures about user scale and would pull AI assistants into rules on transparency, risk management and content governance if adopted. (enterpriseai.economictimes.indiatimes.com)
European Union regulators are assessing whether ChatGPT should be treated like a very large online platform under the Digital Services Act. (reuters.com) The European Commission said on April 10 that it was analyzing ChatGPT after OpenAI reported user numbers above the Digital Services Act threshold. Under the law, services with more than 45 million average monthly users in the European Union can face the strictest layer of oversight. (reuters.com; digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) The Digital Services Act was written for online intermediaries such as marketplaces, social networks and search engines, not for a general-purpose chatbot. The Commission is now testing whether an artificial intelligence assistant used at mass scale fits inside that platform rulebook. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu; reuters.com) If ChatGPT is designated, OpenAI would move into the same top tier of Digital Services Act supervision that already covers services such as major social platforms and search engines. That tier carries annual risk assessments, outside audits and stronger transparency duties. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu; ec.europa.eu) The question has sharpened as ChatGPT’s scale has become harder for regulators to ignore. OpenAI said in October 2025 that ChatGPT had 700 million weekly active users, and it said in November 2025 that more than 1 million business customers were using OpenAI directly. (openai.com; openai.com) The European Union has already shown it will update Digital Services Act supervision as services cross the threshold. On February 9, 2026, the Commission designated WhatsApp’s Channels feature as a very large online platform after it reached at least 45 million users in the bloc. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) The law’s extra obligations focus on systemic risks, including illegal content, effects on fundamental rights and threats tied to elections and public security. European Commission guidance also tells large platforms to adopt election-specific safeguards related to generative artificial intelligence. (ec.europa.eu; digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) OpenAI has already been under separate European scrutiny outside the Digital Services Act. Italy’s data protection authority temporarily blocked ChatGPT in 2023 before OpenAI restored service with changes, and the European Data Protection Board later set up a task force on ChatGPT among national privacy regulators. (gpdp.it; edpb.europa.eu) No designation has been announced yet, and the Commission said it is still assessing the service. If Brussels decides ChatGPT belongs in the Digital Services Act’s top category, Europe would be extending platform-style rules to a mainstream artificial intelligence assistant for the first time. (reuters.com; digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu)
