On Monday 31 August, the European Commission designated ChatGPT as a very large online search engine (VLOSE) and Reddit (a US community website for discussion and social news) and Roblox (a US online video gaming platform and video game creation system) as very large online platforms (VLOPs) under the Digital Services Act (DSA), according to a press release.
These services have in fact declared that they reach at least 45 million average monthly active users in the EU, thus meeting the designation threshold. ChatGPT, from the American giant OpenAI, becomes the first “AI” covered by the DSA.
According to AFP, at the end of March its search function was used by more than 159 million users in the EU, or more than one third of the European population. Roblox claims 46.6 million active players in Europe. Reddit says it has more than 57 million users in the EU.
Following notification of these designations, these services have four months, that is until the end of December 2026, to comply with the additional obligations set out by the DSA for VLOPs and VLOSEs, the press release adds.
These obligations include assessing and mitigating systemic risks related to their services and algorithmic systems, particularly concerning the dissemination of illegal content, harmful effects on minors, users’ physical and mental well-being, fundamental rights, electoral processes and public security.
These designations give the Commission investigative powers to assess the functionalities of these services and, where appropriate, any associated systems. The Commission will have competence alongside Coimisiún na Meán for ChatGPT and Reddit and the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) for Roblox, acting as Digital Services Coordinators for Ireland and the Netherlands respectively, where the services concerned are established.
To date, the Commission has designated 28 very large online platforms and search engines as falling under the DSA. Three of them have been sanctioned following investigations, namely the social network X and the online marketplaces Temu and AliExpress. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)