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The European Commission has designated ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine and Reddit and Roblox as Very Large Online Platforms under the Digital Services Act, subjecting all three to the bloc’s strictest online safety regime.
The designation will prove particularly consequential for ChatGPT because the Commission has concluded that an AI chatbot that pulls live results from the internet functions, in regulatory terms, as a search engine — not merely a platform.
“These new designations mean that ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox will now be held to a higher standard of scrutiny and accountability in the European Union, in line with their large impact on our citizens and society,” said Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy.
The Commission described ChatGPT as a “hybrid service” that qualifies as an online search engine under the DSA because it can engage with and respond to users’ prompts and queries, including by searching the web.
Reddit and Roblox have been designated as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs), as both allow users to create and share content publicly.
“We continue to watch the digital landscape closely and will not hesitate to designate any platform that meets the threshold for enhanced supervision under the Digital Services Act.”
Under the DSA, online services that reach more than 45 million monthly users in the EU — roughly one in 10 of the bloc’s population — are classified as either Very Large Online Platforms or Very Large Online Search Engines, depending on what they do.
OpenAI disclosed that ChatGPT’s search function averaged about 159 million monthly active users in the bloc for the six months ending March 2026, while Reddit reported 57.2 million and Roblox roughly 48 million.
The three services now have four months — until the end of November — to comply with a suite of obligations reserved for the largest platforms, including annual systemic risk assessments covering illegal content, the protection of minors, effects on users’ mental and physical wellbeing, fundamental rights, electoral processes and public security.
They must also submit to independent audits and share data with regulators and vetted researchers.
The Commission will supervise compliance in cooperation with Ireland’s Coimisiún na Meán, the digital services coordinator for ChatGPT and Reddit, and the Netherlands’ Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) for Roblox.
The designations bring the total number of platforms and search engines under the DSA’s strictest tier to 28.
The regulation has already produced around €870 million in fines, including a record €550 million penalty against AliExpress in July for failing to curb the sale of illegal and counterfeit goods, a €200 million fine against Temu in May for comparable failings and a €120 million fine against X in December 2025 over content moderation and transparency shortcomings.
Non-compliance can attract penalties of up to 6% of a company’s global annual turnover — a figure that, for OpenAI and its rapidly growing revenue, could prove substantial.
Washington has taken a dim view of the EU’s enforcement drive.
The Trump administration called DMA fines on Apple and Meta a “novel form of economic extortion” and has threatened retaliation against countries with digital rules targeting US tech firms — rhetoric that could sharpen now that three more American-owned services have been brought under direct Commission supervision.
