The EU has regulated ChatGPT as a search engine. Calling it a platform would have handed OpenAI a liability shield.

The European Commission classified ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine under the Digital Services Act, imposing transparency and risk rules but excluding its conversational aspects. This avoids granting OpenAI safe harbour protections that come with being labeled a Very Large Online Platform, which would imply chatbot outputs are user-generated content. The decision leaves certain risks, especially related to the chatbot's design and impact on users, less regulated.