WorkAugust 31, 2026via The Decoder
ChatGPT now faces stricter EU oversight as a very large search engine
Why it matters
The EU's Digital Services Act is applying regulatory teeth to AI products at scale. For practitioners deploying or advising on AI in Europe, this sets a compliance precedent; for enthusiasts, it signals how geopolitics will reshape the AI stack.
Key signals
- EU Commission classifies ChatGPT as a 'very large search engine' under Digital Services Act
- Threshold: at least 45 million monthly EU users
- Compliance deadline: end of 2026
- Required deliverables: risk assessments, transparency reports, ad archive
- Disputed: whether Commission can demand access to training data
- First time this classification applied to ChatGPT
The hook
OpenAI's ChatGPT just became a 'very large search engine' under EU law. By end of 2026: risk assessments, transparency reports, ad archives — and maybe training data access.
The EU Commission is classifying ChatGPT as a very large search engine under the Digital Services Act for the first time, with at least 45 million monthly EU users. By the end of 2026, OpenAI has to deliver risk assessments, transparency reports, and an ad archive, among other things. Whether the Co…