EU Set to Classify ChatGPT and Roblox as 'Very Large Online Platforms' in August

The European Union is preparing to designate ChatGPT and Roblox as "very large online platforms" under its Digital Services Act, according to Bloomberg. The classification could come as soon as August.

That label already applies to Google Maps, Google Play, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, WhatsApp, X and YouTube. Under the DSA, any platform or search engine with more than 45 million monthly users in the EU qualifies.

The designation isn't symbolic. Once classified, companies have four months to set up a point of contact for regulators and users, publish clearer terms and conditions, and disclose how their advertising, recommendation systems and content moderation actually work. They're also required to report criminal offenses to authorities.

Beyond that, VLOPs must run risk assessments covering illegal content, election interference, gender-based violence, discrimination, and threats to media freedom and free expression. They then have to show they're doing something about whatever risks they find. That means annual independent audits, data-sharing with the European Commission, and access for vetted outside researchers.

Why These Two, Why Now

Roblox has been dealing with a string of lawsuits from multiple U.S. state attorneys general and private plaintiffs alleging the platform failed to protect children from predatory adults. The company has said it's investing in age verification and safety tools, but the legal pressure has been mounting on both sides of the Atlantic.

OpenAI is facing its own reckoning. The company drew criticism after it emerged that it did not alert authorities when it banned the ChatGPT account tied to the suspect in the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting. OpenAI has since said it will report credible threats to law enforcement going forward. Separately, the company is fighting wrongful death lawsuits from families who allege ChatGPT lacked adequate safeguards for users expressing suicidal ideation.

Neither company has been convicted of wrongdoing in these cases. The lawsuits contain allegations, not proven findings, and OpenAI and Roblox are each entitled to contest them in court. But the pattern is clear enough that EU regulators appear to be moving preemptively rather than waiting for those cases to resolve.

The Case For and Against Heavier Regulation

There's a reasonable argument that this is regulation working as intended. If a chatbot or a kids' gaming platform has 45 million-plus users in Europe, forcing transparency on how it moderates content, recommends material to minors, and handles reports of criminal activity isn't unreasonable oversight. It's basic accountability for products used by tens of millions of people, many of them children.

There's also a fair counter-argument. The DSA's compliance burden is heavy: annual audits, forced data-sharing with EU regulators, and mandatory access for outside researchers. Critics of the DSA, including some in the tech industry and free-speech advocates, have long argued the law hands European bureaucrats broad power to shape what content moderation and algorithmic design must look like, with vague standards like "risks to freedom of expression" that could just as easily be used to pressure platforms into over-moderating legal speech as under-moderating harmful content. That's a legitimate tension the DSA hasn't fully resolved, and it applies to any platform on this list, not just ChatGPT and Roblox.

The DSA also doesn't distinguish much between a social media feed optimized for engagement and an AI chatbot people use for homework help or customer service. Lumping ChatGPT in with Facebook and TikTok under the same VLOP framework assumes similar risk profiles, which may or may not hold up as the technology and the case law around it matures.

What Happens Next

Neither OpenAI nor Roblox has publicly confirmed the designation or detailed compliance plans, according to Bloomberg's reporting. If the EU finalizes the classification in August, both companies will have a four-month clock to stand up compliance infrastructure, meaning new terms of service, risk assessments and reporting mechanisms should start showing up for EU users by around December.

The open question is enforcement. The European Commission has already fined and investigated other VLOPs, including a formal case against X over alleged DSA violations. Whether ChatGPT and Roblox face similar scrutiny once they're on the list, or whether the designation mostly produces paperwork, will depend on how aggressively Brussels follows through.