Brussels — The European Union has added ChatGPT to its list of digital services subject to heightened scrutiny under the Digital Services Act, marking the first time an AI chatbot receives such a designation. The same move labels the discussion forum Reddit and the gaming platform Roblox as “very large” online platforms. EU technology chief Henna Virkkunen said the three services will now be held to a higher standard of scrutiny and accountability, in line with their large impact on citizens and society.
The DSA applies to platforms and search engines with more than 45 million monthly active users in the 27‑nation bloc. ChatGPT, developed by U.S. firm OpenAI, reported more than 159 million users in the EU at the end of March, representing more than a third of the bloc’s population.
To bring it under the DSA framework, the Commission classified the chatbot as a search engine. Reddit counted over 57 million users in the EU, while Roblox reported 46.6 million active players. The designation gives the companies four months to comply with additional obligations, including assessing and mitigating risks related to the dissemination of illegal content, negative effects on minors, users’ physical and mental well‑being, fundamental rights, electoral processes and public security.
ChatGPT said it was “preparing to meet the additional compliance requirements” that came with the designation. Roblox described itself as “proud to be the first gaming platform” to receive the label, with its general manager for Europe, Joost Hagesteijn, stating, “Safety is foundational to everything we do and we look forward to continuing our constructive engagement with the European Commission.” The designations come as the EU steps up regulatory enforcement against the world’s biggest digital platforms, many of them American, despite pushback from Washington.
The EU’s AI Act, which took effect in 2024, already imposes risk‑management obligations on OpenAI, but as Lena‑Maria Boswald of the German think tank Interface noted, the DSA could widen the scope. About 30 services have been listed for additional scrutiny under the DSA, mostly owned by major tech firms such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, TikTok, X, Amazon and Shein, as well as several pornography sites and Wikipedia.
Companies found to have violated the DSA face fines of up to 6 % of their annual global revenue, and in cases of serious and repeated violations may incur further penalties.
