ChatGPT Search’s Growth Spurt: 41 Million EU Users and One Giant Leap Toward Big Tech Status

OpenAI's ChatGPT Search saw an explosion in user growth, reaching 41.3 million monthly active users across the European Union as of March 2025. As it was disclosed to the public from OpenAI Ireland Limited, this indicates an almost fourfold rise in users from 11.2 million six months ago and would approach the conditions necessary to be classified as a "Very Large Online Platform" (VLOP) under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA). 

 

If ChatGPT Search reaches 45 million monthly users, the EU's most stringent regulatory obligations would be triggered, similar to Google and Meta. In order to achieve VLOP, users would have to be able to opt-out of personalized feeds, OpenAI would need to allow researchers and regulators access to internal data, submit to annual risk assessments, and be able to describe the manner in which its algorithms promote ranking and/or presenting results. OpenAI would need to comply or else face the possibility of severe punishments of up to 6% of global revenue and/or suspension of the platform. 

 

The rapid expansion of ChatGPT Search indicates a clear trend towards conversational AI-powered search, however, it has still lagged significantly behind Google in momentum in the region. Researchers and regulators are observing how OpenAI addresses challenges around misinformation and transparency when AI-generated answers become mainstream in the everyday search experience.

 

Source: MediaNama