ChatGPT search, OpenAI’s characteristic inside ChatGPT that enables the chatbot to entry and incorporate up-to-date info from the net into its responses, is rising at a quick clip in Europe.
A report filed by one in every of OpenAI’s EU company divisions, OpenAI Eire Restricted, reveals ChatGPT search had roughly 41.3 million common month-to-month energetic “recipients” for the six-month interval ending March 31. That’s up from approximately 11.2 million common month-to-month energetic recipients within the six-month interval ending October 31, 2024.
OpenAI recurrently publishes info on ChatGPT search to adjust to the EU’s Digital Companies Act (DSA), which regulates many facets of on-line providers in European nations. The DSA defines month-to-month energetic recipients as “[people] really participating with the service not less than as soon as in a given time period” by “being uncovered to info disseminated on the net interface of the net platform, akin to viewing it or listening to it, or by offering info.”
Fascinating replace within the OpenAI EU Digital Companies Act (DSA) FAQ article
ChatGPT search had about 41.3 million common month-to-month energetic recipients within the European Union for the six-month interval ending 31 March 2025
(Earlier, for the six-month interval ending 31 October 2024,… pic.twitter.com/AY9sNI1vu9
— Tibor Blaho (@btibor91) April 21, 2025
One element of the DSA instructs “very giant” on-line platforms or search engines like google — these with over 45 million common month-to-month recipients — to permit customers to choose out of advice techniques and profiling, share sure knowledge with researchers and authorities, and carry out exterior auditing. ChatGPT search might quickly be topic to those necessities, assuming the present development development holds.
On-line platforms that don’t adjust to the DSA’s guidelines might see fines of as much as 6% of their world turnover. A platform frequently refusing to conform might lead to a short lived suspension within the EU.
ChatGPT search has made inroads in opposition to incumbents like Google since debuting final yr. According to a poll published in September, 8% of individuals mentioned they’d select ChatGPT over Google as their major search engine. However Google stays far and away the dominant on-line search software. By one estimate, it handles 373 instances extra searches than ChatGPT.
Researchers have discovered ChatGPT search and different AI-powered search engines like google to be much less dependable than typical search, relying on the question. Based on one study, ChatGPT incorrectly recognized 67% of searched-for articles. Another study surfaced accuracy issues associated to ChatGPT’s therapy of stories content material, together with content material from publishers with which OpenAI has licensing agreements.