On Thursday, OpenAI’s services, including ChatGPT, Sora, and its developer-facing API, were down for more than four hours, causing significant disruption to users worldwide. The outage, which began at 11 a.m. PT, impacted the accessibility of these platforms, with many users receiving error messages when attempting to access ChatGPT and Sora. These disruptions were particularly notable for frequent users of ChatGPT, who might recall a similar service failure that occurred earlier this month.
TechCrunch, a technology news website, reported receiving error messages when attempting to use ChatGPT and Sora on Thursday afternoon. The outages were widespread and affected both regular users and developers who rely on OpenAI’s API for integration into their own applications. The company, in response to the downtime, provided updates on its status page. OpenAI explained that the major outage was caused by issues with one of their upstream providers, though specific details regarding the provider or the exact technical cause were not disclosed.
According to OpenAI’s updates, as of 2:05 p.m. PT, ChatGPT services had partially recovered, but users were still experiencing issues such as difficulties loading their chat history. By 3:16 p.m. PT, the Sora platform was reported as operational again. However, OpenAI reassured users that work was still ongoing to fully restore functionality to ChatGPT and its API, which had been the most affected components of the outage. Despite the recovery attempts, the company acknowledged that some users may still experience intermittent issues.
This is not the first time OpenAI’s services have been impacted by outages in December. The company experienced a similar disruption earlier in the month, lasting approximately six hours. In that instance, OpenAI explained that a new telemetry service malfunction had caused the failure, leading to the prolonged downtime. The December outages represent a rare but noteworthy instance of extended disruption, as most service interruptions from OpenAI are typically resolved within one or two hours. These incidents have raised concerns regarding the reliability of the company’s infrastructure, especially considering the increasing reliance on OpenAI’s tools in various applications worldwide.
While many users faced difficulties accessing OpenAI’s services, not all platforms using OpenAI’s API were affected by the outage. Popular services such as Perplexity and Siri’s integration with Apple Intelligence, which also leverage OpenAI’s API for their functionalities, did not seem to be impacted by the disruption. Both services continued to operate normally, according to the companies’ respective status pages and tests conducted by TechCrunch. This suggests that the issue may have been specific to OpenAI’s core systems, rather than affecting its API’s wider ecosystem.
The outages highlight the challenges that companies face when scaling services that are increasingly integral to both consumer applications and business solutions. OpenAI’s rapid growth has made it a pivotal player in the artificial intelligence space, with its tools being used in various industries, including customer support, content creation, and software development. As OpenAI’s customer base continues to expand, the company will need to address infrastructure reliability to ensure that its services remain stable and available to users around the world.
In response to the outages, OpenAI has assured users that it is working to implement a full fix. The company has continued to update its status page and is actively monitoring the situation. While the service recovery appears to be on track, it is still unclear when ChatGPT and the API will be fully restored to their previous operational state. Users are advised to stay informed by checking the status page for further updates on the resolution of the outage.
As OpenAI moves forward with its efforts to stabilize its platform, this incident serves as a reminder of the importance of robust infrastructure and proactive communication in maintaining user trust. The company’s ability to swiftly recover from these disruptions will be essential in maintaining its leadership in the AI space, ensuring its services remain reliable for both developers and everyday users alike.
