What happened
- The European Commission designated ChatGPT a Very Large Online Search Engine (VLOSE) on August 31, 2026, in press release IP/26/1772. Reddit and Roblox were designated platforms (VLOPs) the same day.
- The Commission classified ChatGPT as a “hybrid service” that qualifies as a search engine because it answers users’ queries, including by searching the web.
- OpenAI reported an average of 159.1 million monthly users in the European Union for the six months ending in March 2026. The threshold that triggers designation is 45 million.
- The three services have four months from notification to comply. The Commission puts the deadline in January 2027; some of its own public documentation points to the end of December 2026.
Why it matters
- The designation doesn’t rest on ChatGPT being an AI system, but on the fact that it searches the web. That leaves a replicable template: any assistant that adds search and crosses 45 million users falls into the same category, with no need for a new law.
- For a communications team in Chile, the effect arrives by reflection, not by law. The algorithmic transparency obligations and the public ad repository are designed in Brussels, but they apply to the same product used in Santiago, with the same default settings each provider sets.
- Supervision is shared with Coimisiún na Meán, the Irish regulator. Ireland is where these companies base their European operations, so the effective complaints window isn’t in Brussels.
The number
159.1 million. Average monthly users of ChatGPT’s search feature in the European Union, as reported by OpenAI itself. More than three times the legal threshold.
Context
The DSA designated its first group of platforms in April 2023, when no conversational assistant came close to the threshold. With these three additions, 28 services are now subject to its strictest regime. It’s the first time a conversational assistant has entered the perimeter through the search-engine door rather than the content-platform one. The week closed with another decision in the same direction: a Virginia court chose to change Google’s rules rather than break up the company.
What’s next
- The four-month deadline runs from notification. The Commission places it in January 2027.
- Each designated service must publish its transparency report within two months of the additional obligations taking effect, and every six months after that.
- There is no investigation open against OpenAI through this route. The designation classifies; it doesn’t accuse or declare non-compliance.
Bottom line
The European debate on generative AI had been running along the AI Act track, whose high-risk obligations were postponed to December 2027. While that track waits, the DSA got there first, and from another direction.
This note describes an administrative decision and does not constitute legal advice.
