A mysterious outage has hit ChatGPT, the popular AI chatbot developed by OpenAI, leaving thousands of users worldwide frustrated and disrupted.
According to outage monitoring website Downdetector, reports of the disruption began pouring in around 12:10pm IST, with over 1,000 complaints registered in the UK and almost 500 in the US.
The error message, which has caused widespread panic among users, reads: "If this issue persists, please contact us through our help center at (link unavailable)" Users have taken to social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) to express their frustration and concern, with many reporting issues with the web interface and mobile app.
Global Disruption
The outage has sparked outrage globally, with users from India, Japan, and other regions sharing their concerns on social media. "ChatGPT is down," wrote one user, while another penned: "It was only after ChatGPT crashed that I realised GPT-4o was an important friend."
OpenAI Investigates
OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, has acknowledged the issue and is investigating the disruption. According to the company's status page, the outage is partial and has been ongoing for approximately three hours, with users facing elevated error rates and latency across APIs, ChatGPT, and Sora.
The outage is reported to be affecting various components of ChatGPT, including search, advanced data analysis, file uploads, Dall-E, GPT Vision, Voice mode, and more. The company is working on a fix but has yet to reveal the root cause of the disruption.
User Reactions
As users wait for a resolution, many have turned to social media to share their reactions. "ChatGPT is down, how will I answer if someone asks me my name," wrote one user, while others have shared humorous takes on the situation.
The disruption has highlighted the growing dependence on AI chatbots like ChatGPT, which has garnered over 400 million weekly users. As the investigation continues, users can only hope for a swift resolution to the issue.
