The European Union (EU) has included OpenAI's ChatGPT, from a U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) corporations, under the Digital Services Act (DSA). ChatGPT is the first AI chatbot to be subject to the DSA's strengthened rules, and it will be required to comply with the EU's tougher safety regulations going forward.
The EU said on the 31st (local time) that it designated ChatGPT as a "very large search engine," and the online community Reddit and the game platform Roblox as "very large online platforms," respectively.
In the 27 EU member states, search engines and online platforms with more than 45 million monthly active users are classified as "very large" and subject to additional obligations under the DSA. The European Commission classified ChatGPT as a search engine to include it under the DSA's rules.
Henna Virkkunen, the EU commissioner for technology and sovereignty, said, "ChatGPT, Reddit, and Roblox will be required to meet a higher level of oversight and accountability in the EU, commensurate with their impact on citizens and society."
Accordingly, OpenAI must comply within four months with the DSA's strengthened safety and accountability obligations. The EU said those obligations include "assessing and mitigating systemic risks arising from services and algorithmic systems related to the dissemination of illegal content, negative impacts on minors, users' physical and mental well-being, fundamental rights, electoral processes, and public safety."
The move is expected to further tighten the EU's regulation of U.S. big tech. Despite resistance and possible retaliation from the U.S. administration of Donald Trump, the EU is continuing to regulate U.S. technology corporations, raising the likelihood that it will spill over into a trade conflict between the two sides.