EU's Toughest Digital Safety Rules Hit ChatGPT

The European Commission has designated ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine. This makes it the first AI chatbot to face the EU’s highest tier of digital safety regulation. What's interesting is that Reddit and Roblox are also subject to these rules. European authorities classified ChatGPT this way because it actively crawls and retrieves live web results. OpenAI disclosures show the tool had about 159 million monthly active users in the EU for the six months ending March 2026. This clears the 45 million user threshold for the designation. Reddit reported 57.2 million users, and Roblox had between 46.6 million and 48 million. These new rules mean these platforms will face higher scrutiny and accountability. The companies have four months to adapt their operations to mandatory risk-mitigation standards. These standards cover issues like illegal content, user well-being, and protections for minors. Non-compliant providers could face fines up to 6% of their global annual turnover. This designation has global implications for anyone who relies on these platforms daily.