EU Puts ChatGPT, Reddit, Roblox Under Strictest Rules

The European Commission on Monday designated OpenAI's ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine and Reddit and Roblox as Very Large Online Platforms under the EU's Digital Services Act — the first time an AI chatbot has been pulled into the bloc's toughest tier of online regulation.

All three services told regulators they reach at least 45 million average monthly users in the EU, the threshold that triggers designation, according to the Commission's announcement.

They now have four months — until January 2027 — to comply with the extra obligations that come with the label.

What the Rules Require

Under the DSA, designated services must assess and mitigate what Brussels calls the systemic risks flowing from their service and their algorithmic systems, the Commission said.

The Commission listed those risks as the spread of illegal content, negative effects on minors, harm to users' physical and mental well-being, fundamental rights, electoral processes and public security.

The three join a list that already includes Meta's Instagram and ByteDance's TikTok, Euractiv reported.

The Numbers

OpenAI disclosed that ChatGPT's search function averaged about 159 million monthly active users in the bloc over the six months ending March 2026, Euronews reported. Reddit reported 57.2 million and Roblox roughly 48 million, according to the same report.