ChatGPT becomes first AI chatbot to face tougher EU rules

ChatGPT will have to comply with tougher safety rules after the EU added it Monday to a list of digital services subject to greater legal scrutiny, a first for an AI chatbot.

Brussels also designated Reddit and Roblox as "very large" online platforms, a label that comes with additional obligations and oversight.

Is ChatGPT the first AI chatbot to face tougher EU rules?

Yes. The European Commission classified ChatGPT as a search engine, a first for an AI chatbot, placing it under the Digital Services Act's strictest tier.

EU technology chief Henna Virkkunen said the three "will now be held to a higher standard of scrutiny and accountability in the European Union, in line with their large impact on our citizens and society."

What is the EU's 'very large' platform designation?

The designation applies to platforms and search engines with more than 45 million monthly active users in the 27-nation bloc, a threshold ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox reported meeting, the commission said. The three now have four months to comply with additional obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), a content law that has become a major weapon in the EU's legal armoury against Big Tech.

These obligations include "assessing and mitigating the systemic risks stemming from their service and algorithmic systems related to the dissemination of illegal content, the negative effects on minors, users' physical and mental well-being, fundamental rights, electoral processes and public security," Brussels said.

What does the EU's move mean for other AI companies?

Lena-Maria Boswald, of the German tech think tank Interface, said ahead of the announcement that the expected move would set a "precedent" and "influence the regulatory expectations for every large generative AI system used in the EU."

She said OpenAI "already has risk-management obligations under the AI Act, but the DSA could widen the scope." The widened scrutiny also applies to Roblox, a gaming platform that lets people build and share their own games, and Reddit, the popular online forum.

Has the EU targeted other platforms before ChatGPT?

The designations come as the EU has stepped up regulatory enforcement against the world's biggest digital platforms, including many American ones, despite strong US pushback and threats of retaliation. It recently told TikTok, one of roughly 30 other listed platforms, to change what it deemed its addictive design or face heavy fines.

Last year, it fined Elon Musk's social media platform X 120 million euros ($138 million) for breaching transparency obligations and other violations.