It's not just you, ChatGPT isn't talking to us either

Welcome back, ChatGPT

OpenAI's service status has finally switched from red to yellow as today's outage clears. The company is reporting ChatGPT and API calls are slowly recovering, with Sora now back to full operation.

Mirroring OpenAI's claims, outage reports have substantially dropped according to Down Detector, and users are reporting near-normal working of ChatGPT in various regions.

Things are looking up! (But it could take a while longer)

A fresh update from OpenAI suggests that its fix is working, at least for API calls which are in the process of recovering.

However, OpenAI also states that full access to other affected services (including ChatGPT) could take "another few hours."

Meanwhile, user reports on Down Detector are dipping. That said, previous dips have been followed by even larger spikes, so fingers crossed that this is a sign of today's outage ramping down, and not amping up.

ChatGPT is down, what do we do now?

So, ChatGPT is down. In the meantime, what can we do?

Well, there's always a return to Googling. I'm sure Stack Overflow will appreciate the influx in traffic as people scour ten-year-old threads to understand which array should go where in their code.

However, if you need your fix of AI chatbot for the day, there's always Google's Gemini, which is online and ready to assist.

• https://gemini.google.com/

Some users report ChatGPT is back, but no luck on our end

While some users are reporting that ChatGPT is back up and running on social media, we can't say the same (as seen in the error above).

OpenAI is yet to report if its fix has been implemented fully, and, while user reports dip on Down Detector, the problem clearly persists for most users.

OpenAI: We are still working on implementing the mitigation for this issue

OpenAI has updated its status page to indicate that it's still currently applying any fixes required to resolve ongoing issues with ChatGPT, Sora, and API calls.

In the meantime, expect errors and latency issues to continue.

Some of us are lost without ChatGPT

Far and wide across the internet, people are sharing similar sentiments. With ChatGPT down, what do I do now?

While the tool has only been around since 2022, it's become a staple of many people's daily lives. Perhaps too much of a staple in X user Pratham Kalan's case. Don't worry, Pratham. We'll get through this. Well, I will. Fingers crossed for you. 🤞

OpenAI employees respond on X

While OpenAI's status page states that the issue has been identified with ChatGPT and Sora, and that a fix is in the works, it's nice to see OpenAI employees spread the word on X, even if it is using the same vague language. At least we have a human response.

Or do we...?

Errors persist for ChatGPT

Users are reporting various errors from ChatGPT during this disruption, with the above example shared by Laptop Mag's EIC Nick Lucchesi, whose morning study of the United States' 16th president has been impacted greatly.

We'll ignore the typo here. Clearly, the coffee has yet to take effect.

Outage reports spike in the U.S.

In the U.S., Down Detector is tracking an uptick in users reports of issues at OpenAI, but don't worry. Things aren't getting worse, it's just that more users are waking to find ChatGPT acting strangely.

We'll be keeping an eye on user reports from across the internet to see how things fare over the coming hours. Stay tuned!

"Big problem": Users react to ChatGPT disruptions

Typically, when a service or tool has an outage, it's something we can put to one side for a few hours and check in on later. However, ChatGPT has become an invaluable tool for some, who rely on the chatbot for educational or workplace support.

For those people, this will be something of a Black Tuesday, with intermittent service disruptions likely to impact their workflows heavily.

Are ChatGPT outages normal?

At the moment, there's no reason to suspect that OpenAI's issues are anything out of the ordinary.

Seasoned ChatGPT users will be able to tell you that the chatbot can suffer outages up to a few times per month, with these disruptions lasting anywhere from minutes to several hours at a time.

Sometimes these issues will be related to updates, server overload, network issues, or internal errors.

OpenAI has identified the root cause of today's disruption, citing it as a partial outage. While there has been no confirmation of the outage's cause, a fix is in the works.

Meanwhile: User reports of issues at OpenAI remains high

Taking a look at outage tracking website Down Detector, it's clear to see a large spike in user reports of issues at OpenAI over the last few hours in the U.K. (time shown in GMT.)

While the number of these reports has dropped, there are still a large number of user reports being submitted to the site, with ChatGPT being the most widely reported tool of OpenAI's encountering issues.

OpenAI is aware of the issue and working on a fix

Thankfully, for those affected, OpenAI is aware of the issue, which has now been ongoing for 6 hours, and it working on a fix.

The most commonly encountered issues include high latency, resulting in ChatGPT taking longer to respond to user prompts, and errors when forming those replies.

With a fix now being worked on, it's possible that ChatGPT will be back up and running as normal sooner rather than later, but we'll keep you posted on any changes.

OpenAI System Status: Problems across the board

Currently, OpenAI's official system status tracker is showing errors across the board for ChatGPT, Sora, and its APIs.

Affected ChatGPT components include the web portal, iOS and Android apps, and desktop apps for Windows and macOS.