Millions of users worldwide were left scrambling as ChatGPT, the popular AI-powered chatbot, went offline due to a technical issue. The disruption, which began shortly before 7 PM ET, also affected OpenAI’s API and Sora services, leading to widespread inconvenience for businesses and individuals.
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, addressed the situation on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), confirming the outage. “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,” the company stated.
The outage has caused a ripple effect, disrupting firms that depend on OpenAI’s API for their operations. Users have reported slow logins and degraded service performance, flooding social media with complaints and seeking clarity.
Outage tracking platform Down Detector noted a sharp increase in reports about ChatGPT going offline, although the actual number of affected users remains unclear.
As of now, OpenAI has not provided a timeline for restoring normalcy but has assured users that updates will be shared as the situation develops. The outage underscores the growing dependence on AI tools and the impact of such disruptions on global operations.