The European Commission has, for the first time, classified ChatGPT as a very large search engine under the Digital Services Act. According to The Decoder, the service is used by at least 45 million people per month in the EU.
By the end of 2026, OpenAI will be required to submit risk assessments, transparency reports, and an advertising archive, among other materials. This status entails stricter information disclosure requirements for the company before European regulators.
However, the question of whether the European Commission can demand access to data used to train the models remains a subject of disagreement among legal experts. The source consists of metadata and a retelling of the publication; therefore, there is no independent confirmation within the package.
editorial commentary
Why it matters
The likely practical consequence is an increase in the volume of OpenAI's regulatory reporting in the EU by the end of 2026. The nearest observable signal will be the publication of official requirements or the company's first documents. Significant uncertainty persists regarding potential access to training data and the legal interpretation of this requirement.