ChatGPT users worldwide today faced a disruption when the popular AI chatbot experienced a sudden outage. If you rely on ChatGPT for quick answers, writing help, or general assistance, this temporary downtime may have felt like an inconvenience. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, was quick to acknowledge the issue, and CEO Sam Altman addressed it openly, emphasising OpenAI’s commitment to improving reliability.
The outage, which lasted about 30 minutes, impacted thousands of users globally. According to DownDetector, a platform that monitors online outages, over 18,000 people reported issues with ChatGPT, with the vast majority (88 percent) facing general problems accessing the chatbot. An additional 10 percent encountered website-related issues, while around 2 percent had trouble logging in. During the outage, users encountered a “bad gateway” error, which prevented them from accessing the AI service.
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Acknowledging the recent outage, Sam Altman posted on X (formerly Twitter), “ChatGPT went down for 30 mins today. We are much, much better at reliability than we used to be, but clearly more work in front of us.”
He also mentioned that ChatGPT is now the eighth most-visited website globally, according to Similarweb, hinting at the immense user load the platform is handling. OpenAI’s statement reflects its dedication to enhancing the platform’s stability amid its rapid growth.
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This wasn’t the only recent hiccup for ChatGPT. The platform also went down on Monday, frustrating users with a “404 Not Found” error message. Interestingly, this glitch came just days after OpenAI introduced a new feature: ChatGPT search. With this feature, users can search the web directly through the AI chatbot. The demand for ChatGPT has skyrocketed since this update, which is likely putting additional strain on the platform.
For now, it seems like OpenAI is working to keep ChatGPT reliable as more users flock to the AI tool. While minor disruptions can happen, it’s clear that OpenAI is focused on making improvements to keep the service running smoothly for its massive global audience.