ChatGPT outage affects thousands of users globally

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s flagship AI chatbot, experienced a significant global outage before returning to service on Thursday.

Service disruption details: The outage affected thousands of users worldwide, with more than 10,000 people in the UK alone reporting access issues.

• The disruption began around 11:00 GMT when users encountered a “bad gateway error” message
• OpenAI implemented a fix at 15:09 GMT and continued monitoring the system’s performance
• The company has not disclosed the specific cause of the outage

Impact and user response: The temporary shutdown of the AI tool highlighted its integration into daily workflows and sparked social media discussion.

• Users took to social media platforms to discuss the disruption to their work processes
• Some approached the situation with humor, joking about having to think without AI assistance
• The outage affected both free users and paying subscribers, who pay up to $200 monthly for premium features

Service context: ChatGPT has become a cornerstone of the generative AI landscape since its launch in late 2022.

• The platform serves more than 300 million weekly users according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
• The outage came amid broader industry developments, including OpenAI’s participation in a $500 billion investment pledge for AI infrastructure in the US
• The service offers both free and premium subscription tiers for different user needs

Looking ahead: While brief service interruptions are common for major platforms, this outage underscores both ChatGPT’s widespread adoption and the growing dependence of users on AI tools for daily tasks, raising questions about the need for robust backup systems and redundancies in critical AI infrastructure.