EU Designates ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine Under the Digital Services Act

My take: The European Commission just confirmed something millions of people in Europe already do every day: searching for information using ChatGPT. With 159 million monthly active users in the EU, the platform has more than tripled the 45 million threshold that triggers the strictest obligations under the Digital Services Act.

In practice, OpenAI has until December 2026 to align its systems with requirements around algorithmic transparency, minor safety, illegal content mitigation, and independent risk audits. Non-compliance could bring fines of up to 6% of global annual revenue. Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity are under the same regulatory scrutiny as they scale in the region.

For anyone using these tools in their business or creative work, the signal is clear: regulators are treating AI as infrastructure, not an experiment. Are you tracking how these policy decisions will affect the tools your workflow depends on?