OpenAI’s widely popular chatbot, ChatGPT, experienced a global outage on Thursday, leaving millions of users unable to access the service. This disruption also affected the company’s API and Sora video generator platforms. OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, confirmed the issue and stated that it is actively working on a fix to restore normal operations.
OpenAI’s Response to the Outage
At 5:45 AM IST on Thursday, OpenAI acknowledged the outage in a tweet:
“We’re experiencing an outage right now. We have identified the issue and are working to roll out a fix. Sorry, and we’ll keep you updated.”
Later, an update on the company’s website assured users that a recovery plan was in motion.
“We have identified a pathway to recovery, and we are starting to see some traffic successfully return. Continuing to work to return service to normal,” the update read.
Widespread Disruption Reported
The outage caused significant disruptions across OpenAI’s platforms. According to Downdetector.com, a website tracking outages, there were over 2,400 reports early Thursday morning. The issues ranged from complete inaccessibility to degraded performance and slow logins.
Subscribers to the GPTPro service, which offers premium access, reported being unable to use the chatbot at all. Businesses relying on OpenAI’s API for Artificial Intelligence (AI) projects also expressed frustration, as the downtime interrupted operations.
A History of Outages
This is not the first time ChatGPT has faced technical difficulties. On November 8, 2024, the platform was down for over 19,000 users globally for approximately 30 minutes. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman addressed the incident on Twitter, saying:
“We are much, much better at reliability than we used to be, but clearly more work in front of us,” accompanied by a frown emoji.
Similarly, in June 2024, ChatGPT experienced a significant outage lasting over five hours. While OpenAI has improved its infrastructure since its launch in November 2022, these incidents highlight the challenges of maintaining a robust AI service at a global scale.
ChatGPT’s Meteoric Rise
Despite occasional disruptions, ChatGPT remains a groundbreaking AI tool with an enormous user base. Since its debut, it has amassed 250 million weekly active users. Earlier this month, OpenAI reported that its technology is now reaching 300 million active users each week.
OpenAI’s rapid growth is reflected in its valuation, which skyrocketed from $14 billion in 2021 to an impressive $157 billion in 2024. The company’s revenues also surged, reaching $3.6 billion this year, far exceeding earlier projections by Sam Altman.
The Road Ahead
OpenAI’s swift acknowledgment of the outage and ongoing efforts to resolve the issue demonstrate its commitment to reliability. However, as the platform continues to grow and support a global audience, the need for a more resilient infrastructure becomes increasingly evident.
While disruptions like these may cause temporary inconvenience, ChatGPT’s transformative impact on AI-driven applications and its widespread adoption are a testament to its significance in the tech landscape.