EU designates ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox under the DSA at 45M users
The European Commission has designated ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine under the Digital Services Act, and named Reddit and Roblox as Very Large Online Platforms. The announcement was published on 31 August 2026. It’s the clearest sign yet that the EU intends to police a general purpose chatbot with the same rulebook it uses for social feeds.
The trigger is a headcount, not a judgement about AI. The Commission says the three services declared that they reach at least 45 million average monthly users in the EU, which is the threshold for designation. Cross it, and the strictest tier of the DSA applies.
| Service | Designation | Threshold declared |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Very Large Online Search Engine (VLOSE) | 45 million average monthly EU users |
| Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) | 45 million average monthly EU users | |
| Roblox | Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) | 45 million average monthly EU users |
What that buys the Commission is a list of duties rather than a single ban. The designated services have to assess and mitigate systemic risks from their service and their algorithmic systems, covering illegal content, negative effects on minors, users’ physical and mental well-being, fundamental rights, electoral processes and public security. Minors sit in the middle of that list, which is the same ground OpenAI moved on when it made ChatGPT for Teens the default for under-18 users.
These new designations mean that ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox will now be held to a higher standard of scrutiny and accountability in the European Union, in line with their large impact on our citizens and society.
Henna Virkkunen, EU executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, via the European Commission
The deadline is worth reading carefully, because the coverage split on it. The Commission’s own text gives the services four months from notification, which it writes as “by January 2027”. The Verge and Ars Technica both read that as the end of December 2026 instead. Still, either way the work lands inside this quarter and the next one.
Non-compliance carries money. Ars Technica, republishing Financial Times reporting, puts the exposure at fines of up to 6 percent of global revenue. The same report notes that in July the Chinese marketplace AliExpress was fined 550 million euros under the DSA over the sale of illegal products, so the penalty tier isn’t theoretical. European regulators have been busy elsewhere too, as the 825 million euro Dutch fine against Uber over automated driver deactivations showed.
None of the three companies pushed back in public. An OpenAI spokesperson told Ars Technica the company was preparing to meet the additional requirements. Roblox said it’s “proud to be the first gaming platform to reach this milestone in the EU” and that “safety is foundational to everything we do”.
Reddit gave Engadget a statement after publication saying it’s committed to complying and has been preparing to meet the VLOP requirements. Engadget also counts 28 services now designated as very large platforms or search engines under the DSA. Supervision at that tier includes data sharing with the Commission and authorities, annual independent audits, and researcher access to platform data in certain cases.
The thing to watch is what a risk assessment looks like when the product is a model rather than a feed. A recommendation algorithm can be documented and tuned. But a chatbot’s output is generated fresh each time, and the DSA has no template for that yet, so the first audit reports are the real test.
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