Both laws can apply to the same AI service. The EU AI Act regulates the artificial-intelligence system or model, the organisation’s role in supplying or using it, and the system’s risk category. The Digital Services Act (DSA) regulates an online service when it functions as an intermediary, hosting service, platform or search engine for users in the EU. An AI SaaS product or API may therefore fall under the AI Act alone, the DSA alone, or both.
Start by mapping what you supply, who operates each layer, what happens to user content and how large the EU audience is. Then classify the AI system under the AI Act and the online-service functions under the DSA. Marketing language such as “AI platform” does not decide the result; architecture, purpose, role and audience do.
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The two laws regulate different layers
The AI Act and the DSA are complementary rather than alternative regimes. The AI Act is a risk-based framework for artificial-intelligence systems and general-purpose models. It assigns duties to providers, deployers and other operators according to what the system does and how it is supplied. The DSA is a service-layer framework for intermediary online services and platforms that handle information or interactions for people in the EU.
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| Question | EU AI Act | Digital Services Act |
|---|---|---|
| What is regulated? | An AI system or general-purpose AI model | An intermediary online service, platform or search engine |
| Who is regulated? | Providers, deployers and other operators identified by the supply chain | Intermediary, hosting, platform and search-service providers |
| What triggers duties? | The system’s intended purpose, operator role and risk category | The service’s functions, EU audience and systemic impact |
| Typical controls | Risk management, high-risk controls, transparency, human oversight, records and conformity measures | Notice-and-action processes, terms, advertising and recommender transparency, content-moderation reporting and systemic-risk controls |
| Largest-service test | No equivalent single user-count threshold | At least 45 million average monthly EU users can trigger VLOP or VLOSE status |
| Main supervisory bodies | The Commission’s AI Office, national competent authorities and, for EU institutions, the European Data Protection Supervisor | The European Commission for VLOP/VLOSE systemic-risk supervision and national Digital Services Coordinators for other DSA supervision |
A service can satisfy both descriptions. For example, a chatbot can be an AI system while also hosting user posts, recommending content, selling advertising or providing search results. Each law then requires its own classification and control map.
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When the EU AI Act applies
Identify the AI product and the operator
Ask whether your organisation develops an AI system or general-purpose model, places it on the market, puts it into service under its own name, or deploys another provider’s system. The organisation that develops and supplies the system may be the provider; the organisation that uses another provider’s system for its own operation may be the deployer. The exact answer depends on the commercial arrangement, branding, technical control and intended purpose, so record the reasoning in the service inventory rather than relying on a job title.
Classify the system by risk
The AI Act uses different obligations for prohibited uses, high-risk systems, systems that create transparency risks and general-purpose AI. Classification follows the system’s intended purpose and actual configuration. A general-purpose model raises a separate provider analysis from a narrow model embedded in a single application. A high-risk system requires a different control package from a transparency-risk chatbot, and a prohibited practice cannot be made lawful by adding a disclosure.
General-purpose AI providers
General-purpose AI provider obligations entered application on 2 August 2025. A provider must determine whether the model is general-purpose, whether it is the provider placing that model on the market and whether an exemption applies. That analysis should cover the model supply chain, documentation and the point at which the model is made available to downstream developers.
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Article 50 transparency obligations for providers and deployers apply from 2 August 2026. They concern situations in which people need to know that they are interacting with or receiving content from an AI system. Teams should identify every affected user journey, the disclosure shown, the party responsible for it and the evidence that the disclosure is delivered in practice.
Progressive implementation
The Commission’s current implementation timeline describes a progressive rollout, with the main set of obligations foreseen to reach 2 August 2028. The timeline reflects Digital Omnibus amendments, so organisations should verify the current official schedule before fixing a contractual deadline, launch date or compliance statement.
The European Commission describes the AI Act as “the first-ever comprehensive legal framework on AI worldwide.” That description reflects the Act’s breadth, but it does not mean every AI-enabled feature has the same legal classification.
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When the Digital Services Act applies
Check whether the product is an intermediary service
The DSA covers intermediary online services and platforms used by people in the EU. Examples include hosting providers, online marketplaces, social networks, content-sharing platforms, app stores, and online travel or accommodation platforms. The decisive issue is the service function: does it transmit, host, distribute, recommend, advertise or search information for users?
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- Processes for users to report illegal content and for the provider to take action.
- Clear terms and conditions explaining content-moderation rules and restrictions.
- Advertising transparency, including information that an item is an advertisement and who is responsible for it.
- Information about recommender-system parameters and the main factors affecting recommendations.
- Marketplace seller transparency where the service connects consumers with traders.
- Content-moderation transparency reporting.
- Systemic-risk assessment and mitigation for the largest designated services.
Small and micro-enterprises receive exemptions from some burdensome DSA requirements, but an exemption does not automatically remove every duty. The provider must establish which category and size-based rules apply to its own service.
General DSA application
The DSA has applied generally since 17 February 2024. A service does not need to use artificial intelligence to be covered: a conventional hosting, social, marketplace or search function can be regulated because of what it does online.
When an AI platform becomes a VLOP or VLOSE
The user threshold
A very large online platform (VLOP) or very large online search engine (VLOSE) is a platform or search engine with at least 45 million average monthly users in the EU, equivalent to 10% of the EU population. The measurement concerns average monthly EU users, not worldwide registrations, downloads or occasional visits. Providers must maintain a defensible methodology and supporting records for the figure used in their assessment.
Enhanced duties
Designation brings obligations beyond the standard DSA framework. A VLOP or VLOSE must identify and assess systemic risks, implement mitigation measures, maintain an internal compliance function and undergo independent annual audits. It must share relevant data with the Commission and national authorities, enable vetted researchers to access data under the applicable process, offer a recommender option that is not based on profiling and maintain a public advertising repository.
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Designation example
On 31 August 2026, the Commission announced that ChatGPT had been designated a VLOSE and that Reddit and Roblox had been designated VLOPs. The announcement gave those services four months, by January 2027, to comply with the additional obligations. A designation is therefore a regulatory event with its own implementation window; it is not simply a label attached to a large user base.
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How the laws overlap for AI services
Overlap occurs when an AI system is integrated into or delivered through a DSA intermediary, platform or search engine. The same corporate group may provide a model, operate an application that uses it and run a platform where users publish or discover content. Those activities should be mapped separately even when the customer sees one product.
AI chatbot with user-generated content
A chatbot that only provides answers from a provider-controlled model may primarily raise AI Act questions. If users can publish conversations, share generated pages, follow other users, or discover ranked public content, the product may also have hosting or platform functions under the DSA. Advertising and recommendation features add further DSA analysis.
AI API
An API provider normally begins with the AI Act analysis: identify whether the supplied model is general-purpose, determine the provider role and document the intended use and risk category. The API itself becomes a DSA issue when the provider also operates an intermediary service that hosts, distributes, recommends, advertises or searches user content. Supplying model calls to another company does not, by itself, turn every API into a platform.
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AI search or discovery service
An AI service that searches and ranks online information should be assessed for search-engine functions under the DSA as well as for the AI system’s risk and transparency duties. If its EU audience reaches the very-large threshold, the VLOSE framework adds systemic-risk, audit, recommender and data-access requirements.
Marketplace or app-distribution service using AI
AI used for fraud detection, ranking or seller support does not remove the marketplace’s underlying DSA obligations. The operator must assess the marketplace function and the AI system separately, including any high-risk or transparency classification and the content, advertising and seller-information controls required by the DSA.
A practical decision tree
- List what is supplied. Record each model, AI system, application, API, hosting layer, platform feature and search feature. Decide whether the business supplies an AI system or model, an intermediary service, or both.
- Assign operator roles. For every AI component, identify the provider, deployer and any importer or distributor role that exists in the supply chain. For the online layer, identify the hosting, platform or search provider.
- Describe the intended purpose. Write the purpose in operational terms, including who uses the system, what output it produces and what decisions or actions depend on it.
- Map user-content functions. Determine whether the service merely returns a private AI output or also hosts, distributes, ranks, recommends, advertises or searches content supplied by users or third parties.
- Measure the EU audience. Calculate average monthly EU users using a documented method. Test whether the platform or search service reaches the VLOP/VLOSE threshold.
- Classify AI risk. Check prohibited, high-risk, transparency and general-purpose AI triggers. Record the evidence and any exemption relied upon.
- Apply the relevant dates. Use the timeline below for AI Act, GPAI, DSA and designation milestones, and confirm the official schedule before committing to a future deadline.
- Document unresolved facts. If architecture, user numbers, contractual control or intended purpose is uncertain, identify the missing fact and assign an owner to resolve it. Do not present a final legal classification based on an assumption.
Build two compliance maps, not one
A combined inventory prevents teams from treating one law as a substitute for the other. Keep separate fields for the AI object and the online-service function, then connect them where a product feature uses both.
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| AI Act workstream | DSA workstream |
|---|---|
| System or model name and version | Intermediary category and service description |
| Provider, deployer and supply-chain roles | Hosting, platform, marketplace or search functions |
| Intended purpose and affected users | EU users and average-monthly-user methodology |
| Prohibited, high-risk, transparency or GPAI classification | Illegal-content notice-and-action process |
| Risk management, human oversight and technical records | Terms, moderation reporting and user redress processes |
| Article 50 disclosures and evidence of delivery | Advertising repository and ad disclosures |
| Conformity route and responsible authority | Recommender parameters, systemic-risk assessment and audits |
For an integrated service, link each DSA feature to the AI component that powers it. For instance, connect a recommender model to the DSA recommender documentation and to the AI Act risk and transparency assessment, rather than keeping two disconnected spreadsheets.
Key dates and implementation windows
| Date or window | What it means |
|---|---|
| 17 February 2024 | The DSA applies generally to covered intermediary services and platforms. |
| 2 August 2025 | General-purpose AI provider obligations entered application. |
| 2 August 2026 | AI Act Article 50 transparency obligations apply to relevant providers and deployers. |
| 31 August 2026 | The Commission announced ChatGPT as a VLOSE and Reddit and Roblox as VLOPs. |
| Four months after VLOP/VLOSE designation notification | The designated service must meet the enhanced DSA obligations; the 2026 designations were given a January 2027 compliance point. |
| Progressive rollout through 2 August 2028 | The Commission’s current AI Act timeline foresees the main rollout reaching this point and notes Digital Omnibus amendments. Verify the official timeline before relying on it. |
Who enforces each regime?
AI Act authorities
Enforcement is shared among the Commission’s AI Office, national competent authorities and the European Data Protection Supervisor for EU institutions. The framework also addresses coordination where AI systems are integrated into DSA-designated VLOPs and VLOSEs. A multinational service should therefore identify both the relevant national authority and any Commission-level interface.
DSA authorities
The Commission has exclusive competence for enhanced systemic-risk supervision of VLOPs and VLOSEs. Digital Services Coordinators supervise providers established in their Member State and participate in enforcement of other DSA obligations. The provider’s establishment, service category and designation status determine which authority leads a matter.
Common classification mistakes
Assuming “AI” automatically means the DSA
An AI model or private enterprise tool is not necessarily an intermediary service. The DSA analysis turns on online-service functions such as hosting, distribution, recommendation, advertising or search, not on the presence of machine learning.
Assuming the DSA replaces the AI Act
DSA compliance does not settle whether a model is general-purpose, whether an AI use is high-risk or whether an Article 50 disclosure is required. Keep the AI Act assessment active even when the product already has mature content-moderation controls.
Counting the wrong users
Worldwide accounts, app downloads and internal API calls are not the same as average monthly users in the EU. Use a documented definition, measurement period and method before deciding that a platform is below the very-large threshold.
Classifying by marketing name
“Assistant,” “copilot,” “search,” “community” and “platform” are product labels, not legal conclusions. Inspect the architecture, contractual control, user journey and content flows.
Using one generic risk register
AI Act risks concern the system and its use; DSA systemic risks concern the intermediary service and its effects at scale. A single undifferentiated register can hide missing controls, so maintain linked but distinct assessments.
Implementation checklist for an AI SaaS or API team
- Create an inventory of every model, fine-tuned version, application and customer-facing feature.
- Record who develops, brands, places on the market, deploys and controls each component.
- Document intended purposes, prohibited-use screening and risk-category decisions.
- Determine whether any supplied model is general-purpose and whether the organisation is the provider.
- Map every place where users upload, publish, share, search, rank or receive content from third parties.
- Measure average monthly EU users for each platform or search service and preserve the calculation.
- Assign owners for notice-and-action, terms, advertising, recommender disclosures and moderation reporting.
- Design Article 50 disclosures for relevant AI interactions and generated content, with testing evidence.
- Prepare high-risk technical documentation, human-oversight procedures and conformity work where applicable.
- Establish contacts for the AI Office or national AI authority and for the relevant Digital Services Coordinator.
- Track designation notices and calculate the four-month enhanced-obligation window if the service becomes a VLOP or VLOSE.
- Review the Commission’s implementation timeline before each launch, material model change or contractual assurance.
Bottom line for common questions
Does the EU AI Act apply to an AI SaaS or API? It may, when the business provides or deploys an AI system or general-purpose model. The answer depends on role, intended purpose and risk classification.
Does the DSA apply to an AI chatbot? Only if the chatbot or the surrounding product performs a covered intermediary, hosting, platform or search function. A private tool with no such service layer may not be a DSA service.
Do both laws apply? Yes, when an AI system is delivered through a covered intermediary, platform or search service. Run two linked assessments instead of choosing one law.
What makes a service a VLOP or VLOSE? It must be a qualifying platform or search engine and reach the Commission’s average-monthly-EU-user threshold. Designation adds systemic-risk, audit, recommender, advertising and data-access duties.
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