ChatGPT faces tougher EU rules under digital safety regime

The European Commission has designated ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), bringing the services into its highest tier of online safety supervision from Monday.

The three services declared that they each reach at least 45 million average monthly users in the EU, meeting the threshold for designation as a Very Large Online Search Engine (VLOSE) or Very Large Online Platform (VLOP). The Commission said the classification gives it greater investigative powers and places additional compliance requirements on the companies.

Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said the services would be held to “a higher standard of scrutiny and accountability” because of their impact on EU citizens and society. The Commission said ChatGPT qualifies as a search engine because it can respond to queries while searching the web, making it a hybrid service under the DSA.

Reddit and Roblox have been classified as VLOPs because they allow users to create, publish and distribute content to the public. The Commission said Reddit is a discussion-based platform built around topic-based communities, while Roblox enables users to create and play games produced by other users.

OpenAI reported that ChatGPT’s search function averaged about 159 million monthly active users in the EU during the six months to March 2026, while Reddit reported 57.2 million users and Roblox approximately 48 million. The figures put all three services above the 45 million-user threshold for the DSA’s additional obligations.

Under the new designation, the companies must assess and mitigate systemic risks linked to illegal content, minors, users’ physical and mental wellbeing, fundamental rights, electoral processes and public security. The Commission said the services have four months following notification of the designations to comply, setting the deadline at January 2027.

The Commission will oversee compliance alongside Ireland’s Coimisiún na Meán for ChatGPT and Reddit, and the Netherlands’ Authority for Consumers and Markets for Roblox. The national regulators act as Digital Services Coordinators for the countries where the designated services are established.

OpenAI said it was preparing to meet the additional compliance requirements, while Roblox said safety was “foundational to everything we do” and that it looked forward to continued engagement with the Commission. Reddit did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The designations bring the total number of services subject to the DSA’s highest level of supervision to 28. The Commission said the framework applies to companies regardless of where they are based, as it continues to expand enforcement of EU digital regulation to large technology and online platforms.