The EU now regulates ChatGPT as a very large search engine.
The European Commission designated ChatGPT a very large online search engine on 31 August. ChatGPT reports almost 160 million monthly users in the EU, far past the 45 million threshold. Reddit and Roblox were designated the same day, and all three must comply by January 2027.
Why it mattersThe label brings audits and duties over illegal content, minors, elections and public security. Europe is treating the chatbot as a place people search from, not a novelty app.
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