On Tuesday afternoon, millions of around the globe experienced the ChatGPT outage, that lasted for hours.
The disruption left thousands unable to access the platform, sparking widespread frustration and concern among its vast user base. The outage also affected both free users and ChatGPT Plus subscribers across devices and platforms.
What Went Wrong with ChatGPT?
The majority of users reported that ChatGPT simply stopped responding, while others faced login loops, blank chat windows, or were abruptly logged out mid-conversation.
Some also received error messages like: “Hmm…something seems to have gone wrong” and “A network error occurred. Please check your connection and try again.”
Global Reaction to the Outage
As the outage spread, users took to social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) to vent. Screenshots of error messages, half-loaded chats, and login failures flooded timelines.
Some users shared memes mocking the situation, while others expressed concern over lost work and interrupted tasks. Within minutes of the outage, hashtags like #ChatGPTDown and #OpenAI also began trending online.
ChatGPT Response
OpenAI has since confirmed that “nearly all ChatGPT components are now working properly for all users,” although some issues with voice mode remain.
“Please note that we still see an elevated error rate with voice mode and we are working to completely fix this component,” the company wrote on its status website in a follow up update.
The company is working to completely fix this component. As users return to the chatbot, they can breathe a sigh of relief, but the incident highlights the need for robust infrastructure and contingency plans to mitigate the impact of future outages.
Similar ChatGPT Outage in the Past
This is not the first time ChatGPT has experienced an outage. The chatbot went dark this time last year after the company expanded access to its GPT-4o model to free users.
It happened again after ChatGPT was integrated into Apple Intelligence in December. In November 2023, the company even faced a distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attack that was thought to be linked to Russian hackers.
What Can You Do If ChatGPT Experiences An Outage Again?
If ChatGPT experiences an outage again, here are some potential workarounds and alternatives to consider:
- Stay updated on the outage’s status and estimated resolution time by checking OpenAI’s official status page for real-time updates.
- Consider switching to other AI chatbots like Claude or Gemini, which might offer similar functionality and help you get the work done.
- If the outage is specific to higher-tier models, try using lower-tier models like o3 or 4.1-mini, which might still be functional.
- If you’re experiencing issues with new chats, try accessing existing projects, which might still be working despite the outage.
- Sometimes, waiting for a few minutes or an hour can resolve the issue, as OpenAI works to restore services.
