ChatGPT becomes first AI chatbot to face tougher EU rules

ChatGPT has become the first AI chatbot to face the European Union’s toughest digital-platform rules, after Brussels classified it as a search engine to bring it under the Digital Services Act.

The European Commission also designated Reddit and Roblox as very large online platforms. The label applies to platforms and search engines with more than 45 million monthly active users in the 27-member bloc, a threshold the three services reported meeting.

The companies now have four months to comply with additional obligations. These include assessing and reducing systemic risks linked to their services and algorithms, including the spread of illegal content and possible effects on minors, users’ physical and mental well-being, fundamental rights, electoral processes and public security.

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ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox 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.

EU technology chief Henna Virkkunen said the services would face “a higher standard of scrutiny and accountability” because of their impact on citizens and society. The move adds the DSA to existing obligations OpenAI faces under the EU’s AI Act.

Lena-Maria Boswald of the German technology think tank Interface said the decision could set a precedent for regulatory expectations covering large generative AI systems in the EU. Brussels has stepped up enforcement against major digital platforms, recently ordering TikTok to change what it called addictive design and fining Elon Musk’s platform X €120 million for transparency violations and other breaches.

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