The European Commission has added ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox to the highest tier of oversight under the Digital Services Act. The three platforms now face mandatory risk assessments, external audits and real-time data sharing requirements designed to curb illegal content and manipulation.

What You Need to Know

The European Union designates platforms reaching 45 million or more monthly active users as Very Large Online Platforms. That threshold now includes OpenAI's ChatGPT, Reddit's forum network and Roblox's gaming ecosystem. These companies must adopt systematic risk management around disinformation, hate speech and child safety under penalty of fines worth up to 6 percent of global revenue.

The New Designations

The Commission's update brings three distinctly different services under the same regulatory umbrella. ChatGPT, an AI chatbot from OpenAI, now qualifies as a Very Large Online Search Engine because users query it for information in the same way they use traditional search. Reddit, the community-driven discussion platform, and Roblox, the user-generated game platform, both met the user count threshold as Very Large Online Platforms.

The addition marks the first time an AI-based search tool and a gaming platform have been classified in this way. The three join an existing list that includes Facebook, TikTok, X and YouTube.

  • ChatGPT: Classified as a Very Large Online Search Engine due to its conversational search function.
  • Reddit: Designated as a Very Large Online Platform with over 45 million EU users.
  • Roblox: Also labeled as a Very Large Online Platform, reflecting its massive user base among younger audiences.

What the DSA Demands

Once designated, platforms must deliver their first risk assessment within four months. That assessment must detail systemic risks related to illegal content, disinformation, election interference and harm to minors. Based on those findings, companies must implement mitigation measures and submit to annual independent audits.

Transparency reporting also expands significantly. Platforms must publish data on content moderation decisions, advertising targeting and recommendation algorithm architecture. Regulators can request real-time internal data during crises such as elections or public health emergencies.

Why This Matters

The classification of ChatGPT signals that the EU views generative AI as a systemic risk vector, not just a consumer novelty. OpenAI must now open its black box to external scrutiny, potentially revealing how training data and model guardrails influence search results. For Reddit and Roblox, the burden falls on curating vast user-generated ecosystems. Reddit's all-you-can-post structure and Roblox's debut creator marketplace each present distinct moderation challenges that the DSA's risk framework is designed to force.

These new obligations reshape how three very different platforms operate within the EU. Noncompliance carries fines of up to 6 percent of global annual revenue, a figure that for Roblox alone could exceed $150 million.

Broader Regulatory Context

The DSA's expansion into gaming and AI search reflects a regulatory pattern of closing loopholes. Earlier designations caught social media and e-commerce. Now the Commission is explicitly targeting platforms that facilitate communication, commerce and content generation in nontraditional formats. The move also pressures other jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom and Brazil, which are drafting their own platform regulation frameworks, to adopt similar breadth.

For users, the near-term change may be subtle: more detailed content moderation reports, clearer terms of service and slower rollout of features that could amplify harmful content. Longer term, the DSA's demand for transparency could set a global baseline for how AI chatbots and gaming communities disclose their influence on public discourse.