EU may classify ChatGPT under DSA

Brussels is assessing whether to put ChatGPT under the European Union’s toughest Digital Services Act rules for giant online search services. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) (y94.com) The trigger is a user threshold: services with more than 45 million monthly users in the European Union can be designated as “very large online platforms” or “very large online search engines.” The European Commission said on April 10, 2026 that it was analyzing whether ChatGPT fits that category. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) (y94.com) OpenAI’s own European Union disclosure says ChatGPT search had about 120.4 million average monthly active recipients in the bloc for the six months ending September 30, 2025. OpenAI’s help page says that figure was calculated for Digital Services Act compliance purposes. (help.openai.com) That number refers to ChatGPT’s web search feature, not every use of the chatbot. OpenAI told Euractiv the published figure covers cases where ChatGPT searched the web during a conversation, either after a user request or when the model decided search was needed. (euractiv.com) Under the Digital Services Act, a formal designation would start a four-month compliance clock. The European Commission says designated services must assess systemic risks, report them, and put mitigation measures in place. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) The Commission’s guidance says those risks include illegal content, effects on fundamental rights, public security, electoral processes, public health, minors, and mental and physical wellbeing. It also says designated services need an internal compliance function and more transparency around moderation and recommender systems. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) The case matters because ChatGPT does not fit neatly into the categories the law was written for in 2022. The Commission told Euractiv that large language models can fall under the rules if they are integrated into a service that can be designated, and that each case has to be assessed individually. (euractiv.com) Reuters reported on April 10 that Handelsblatt had said OpenAI was set to be classified as a very large online search engine, citing sources. The Commission’s public line was narrower: it said it was still analyzing the information, and OpenAI did not comment to Reuters. (y94.com) (money.usnews.com) If Brussels does designate ChatGPT, the decision would treat its search function less like a chatbot add-on and more like a major online gateway. The next step is the Commission’s formal determination, which would decide whether ChatGPT’s scale now brings it fully into the Digital Services Act’s top tier. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) (y94.com)