OpenAI's AI chatbot ChatGPT is down for users globally
What's the story
OpenAI's popular AI chatbot, ChatGPT, has been affected by a major global outage today. The disruption started at around 10:00am, with more than 1,400 users reporting issues with the bot on Downdetector. Around 90% of the users reported problems with the app, while 8% were facing issues with the website. Login problems were experienced by 2% of the users.
Social response
Users turn to X for confirmation
As the outage persisted, users rushed to X for confirmation. One user noted their dependence on the platform saying, "I actually love Twitter because anytime I think it's just me, I come here and find out that everyone is thinking the exact same way. So I can confirm ChatGPT is down." This trend of using social media as an unofficial tracker for online service disruptions is getting increasingly common.
Pending clarification
OpenAI yet to provide an explanation
As of now, OpenAI has not given an official explanation for the ChatGPT outage. Users have reported issues in accessing both free and paid versions of the service, with some seeing error messages while others failing to load responses. The widespread dependence on AI chatbots such as ChatGPT for work, studies, or casual conversations implies that even a brief disruption can lead to major inconvenience.