The European Commission is preparing to designate OpenAI's ChatGPT and Roblox as Very Large Online Platforms under the Digital Services Act, according to reporting on 29 and 30 July. Officials indicated the designation could arrive as soon as August. It has not been made yet — this is a step being telegraphed, not completed.
Why it qualifies
The DSA reserves its strictest obligations for services exceeding 45 million monthly active users in the EU. Data published by OpenAI showed ChatGPT's search functionality alone reaching more than 120 million monthly EU users in the six months to September 2025 — comfortably past the line, and not a close call the Commission needs to argue about.
What designation brings
Annual systemic risk assessments, independent audits, transparency reports, data access for vetted researchers, and an annual supervisory fee to the Commission. Penalties for breach run to 6% of annual worldwide revenue. The existing VLOP list includes Meta's platforms and X.
The unresolved question
Whether a chatbot is a platform or a search engine under the DSA is genuinely contested among European lawyers, and the two categories carry different obligations. The Act was drafted for services that host and rank content posted by users. A model that generates its answer does neither, which is why the search-function user numbers — rather than ChatGPT's overall usage — are doing the legal work.
The wider point
Europe's AI-specific regime is the AI Act. This is a different statute being pointed at the same company, and it arrives with an enforcement apparatus already staffed and tested — which makes it the faster route to consequences.