On August 31, the European Commission designated OpenAI’s ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine (VLOSE) and named Roblox and Reddit Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) under the Digital Services Act (DSA). Four months from now, these services will have to comply with additional obligations, including that they must:assess and mitigate the systemic risks their services generatesubmit to annual independent auditsopen their internal data to vetted researchersgive users at least one content recommendation system not based on profilingpublish a repository of the advertisements they runrelease biannual public reports on their content moderationThese new requirements kick in anytime an online platform or search engine becomes “very large,” meaning that it reaches at least 45 million average monthly users in the EU. The implications are substantial, particularly for transparency. As very large online services, ChatGPT and Roblox now have to open their hoods to outside inspection — not only by third-party auditors (granted, ones that they themselves select) but also by independent researchers and members of the public.The first round of designations was straightforward, capturing mainly traditional social media platforms like Facebook and search engines like Google. More recent designations, including those of WhatsApp, Roblox, and ChatGPT, involved the Commission applying fixed statutory definitions to services that have changed considerably since those definitions were…

Because you read this