ChatGPT Goes Down Globally After Meta Outage, OpenAI Works On Fix

In a significant disruption to digital services, ChatGPT, the widely used AI-powered chatbot by OpenAI, faced a global outage late Wednesday, leaving millions of users stranded. The outage began just before 7 PM ET (5:30 AM IST) and has affected not just ChatGPT but also OpenAI's API and Sora services.

The outage comes hot on the heels of a similar incident involving Meta platforms—WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook—causing inconvenience to social media users worldwide.

Upon attempting to access ChatGPT, users were met with a notification stating, “ChatGPT is currently unavailable.” OpenAI has since acknowledged the issue on its website and assured users that they have identified the problem and are actively working on a solution.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), OpenAI provided an update: “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!”

Spike in Complaints
Downdetector, a platform tracking online outages, recorded a sharp increase in complaints from ChatGPT users. Reports highlighted slow logins and degraded performance, impacting a wide spectrum of users, from businesses to students and professionals.

OpenAI has not provided a specific timeline for resolving the issue but has promised regular updates. The incident has highlighted the dependence of millions on ChatGPT, particularly its paying subscribers and enterprises relying on API services for seamless operations.

Social Media Reacts: Memes and Frustration
The global outage sparked a flurry of reactions on social media, especially on X, where users vented their frustrations and humorously addressed the situation through memes.

“ChatGPT is down. Now I have to Google like a caveman,” quipped one user. Another wrote, “A lot of students won’t be able to do their essays now.”

Netizens also highlighted the reliance on the chatbot for meeting deadlines. “When you’re working on a tight deadline, and #ChatGPT is down… What’s going on, @OpenAI, huh?” asked a user.

Others lamented the disruption to their studies, with one sharing, “ChatGPT went down when I finally started studying for my exam.”

The ChatGPT outage underlines the increasing dependence on AI tools in daily life, from academic work to professional assignments and even casual inquiries. The incident serves as a reminder of the challenges in maintaining the reliability of large-scale AI systems, especially when millions of users worldwide rely on them for critical tasks.

OpenAI’s swift acknowledgment and transparency in addressing the issue are commendable, but the downtime underscores the need for robust systems to minimise future disruptions.