EU Designates ChatGPT as Very Large Online Search Engine, Imposing Strict Compliance Requirements
The European Commission has officially designated OpenAI's ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine (VLOSE) under the Digital Services Act (DSA). This classification applies to online services with at least 45 million average monthly users in the EU that retrieve and synthesize web content in response to user queries. ChatGPT's reported 159.1 million monthly average users in the EU significantly exceed this threshold. As a VLOSE, ChatGPT will face stringent compliance obligations, including annual systemic risk assessments, independent audits, researcher data access, and maintaining a public repository of advertisements. This designation sets a precedent for other AI search products like Google Gemini and Perplexity, which are also likely to meet the user threshold or are already subject to similar national regulations, such as those in Germany. 
