The European Commission is actively contemplating the designation of ChatGPT, particularly its search functionality, as a Very Large Online Search Engine (VLOSE) in accordance with the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Should this occur, it would introduce markedly more stringent regulatory scrutiny of OpenAI’s premier offering within Europe.
The impetus for this consideration stems from OpenAI’s own transparency report, mandated under existing DSA regulations.
This report disclosed that ChatGPT’s search feature attracted an average of 120.4 million monthly active users across the European Union in the six months ending September 30, 2025. This figure surpasses the DSA’s threshold of 45 million monthly users required for “very large” classification.
Significance of the Search Feature
According to the DSA, pure generative AI chatbots do not intrinsically fall under the most stringent “intermediary service” regulations that apply to platforms and search engines.
The legislation was developed prior to the widespread adoption of tools like ChatGPT, thereby reflecting a gap between regulation and technological evolution.
However, when ChatGPT utilizes its search functionality to retrieve real-time data from the internet for user presentation, it increasingly resembles conventional search engines such as Google or Bing. Regulators seem to be focusing on this particular feature as a crucial entry point for broader DSA compliance.
Should it be classified as a VLOSE, ChatGPT would be subject to escalated requirements, which would include:
- Assessment and mitigation of systemic risks;
- Enhanced transparency regarding algorithms and content acquisition;
- Independent evaluations;
- Data accessibility for regulatory bodies;
- More rigorous content moderation and accountability standards.
Echoes of the EU’s Regulatory Approach
Europe’s history is marked by substantial fines levied against American tech monopolies — often amounting to hundreds of millions or even billions of euros — under various competition, data protection, and platform regulations. The DSA now adds another formidable enforcement mechanism to this repertoire.
For OpenAI, this situation is particularly precarious. The company voluntarily revealed its soaring user metrics as mandated by DSA regulations, yet this transparency could precipitate markedly more stringent oversight.
While the AI Act imposes certain requirements on high-risk and general-purpose AI frameworks, a VLOSE classification would impose an additional layer of platform-specific regulations focused on systemic risk, misinformation, illicit content, and user safeguarding.
Experts contend that isolating the search component as a VLOSE may be somewhat contrived, given that ChatGPT is inherently a hybrid model — embodying aspects of a chatbot, a search engine, and a reasoning apparatus.
Regulators will face the challenge of determining whether to regulate the functionality independently or the service comprehensively.
Implications of This Development
This emerging scenario underscores a broader contention: Europe is resolute in its pursuit of stringent oversight over potent AI technologies, although the foundational laws were not initially conceptualized with generative AI developments in mind.
By categorizing ChatGPT’s search function as part of the “search engine” classification, the Commission can leverage existing DSA instruments without deferring to new AI-focused legislation that has yet to materialize.
For OpenAI, this translates to escalated compliance expenses, increased bureaucracy, and enhanced penalties in its largest and most stringently regulated market outside the United States.
For users in the EU, this could ultimately facilitate greater transparency — despite potentially resulting in slower feature implementations and more rigorous content moderation.
Whether this represents shrewd, future-oriented regulation or simply another instance of the EU regarding successful American enterprises as a “cash cow” remains a topic of fervent debate.
What is unequivocal is that ChatGPT has reached a magnitude and influence that makes it increasingly difficult to evade the regulatory framework.
The Commission is presently evaluating the data and may solicit further clarifications from OpenAI. A conclusive determination regarding VLOSE classification may be forthcoming in the ensuing months, signaling a new chapter in the fraught relationship between pioneering AI enterprises and European regulators.
The content maintains factual accuracy, neutrality, and highlights the irony that OpenAI’s own disclosures have increased the chances of an impending regulatory clampdown.
Source link: Quasa.io.
