ChatGPT Down: Major OpenAI Outage Disrupts Service for Thousands of Users

ChatGPT is experiencing a major outage affecting thousands of users worldwide, with OpenAI confirming that all ChatGPT features are currently unavailable. The disruption began around 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, with outage reports spiking sharply on Down Detector, showing over 10,000 reported cases by 3:15 p.m. and continuing to climb.

Scope of the Outage

According to OpenAI's official status page, the outage is impacting every facet of ChatGPT, including:

• Conversations and chat functionality
• Search capabilities
• Image generation features
• Codex integration
• Atlas features
• And other core ChatGPT services

Recent Activity May Be Related

The timing of this outage is particularly notable given recent developments in the OpenAI ecosystem. Just yesterday, OpenAI launched the new Codex app for Mac, which CEO Sam Altman reported achieved over 200,000 downloads on its first day. The rapid adoption of this new tool may be contributing to the current infrastructure strain.

Additionally, Apple today introduced an update to Xcode that adds agentic coding support for both Codex and Claude, potentially increasing demand on OpenAI's services. While these releases are unlikely to be the direct cause of the outage, the combination of high-profile launches and increased user activity could be straining OpenAI's infrastructure.

User Impact

Users attempting to access ChatGPT are experiencing complete service disruption across all platforms and devices. The outage affects both free and paid subscribers, with no workarounds currently available. Social media platforms are filling with reports from frustrated users who rely on ChatGPT for work, education, and personal use.

OpenAI's Response

OpenAI has acknowledged the outage through their official status page and is actively working to resolve the issue. The company has not yet provided an estimated timeline for restoration of service. This represents one of the more significant outages for ChatGPT in recent months, given the breadth of features affected and the number of users impacted.

Historical Context

ChatGPT outages, while not uncommon, typically affect specific features or regions rather than the entire service. This comprehensive outage suggests a more systemic issue, possibly related to infrastructure, database problems, or a cascading failure across OpenAI's services.

What's Next

We'll continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as OpenAI releases more information about the cause of the outage and their progress toward resolution. Users are advised to check OpenAI's status page for the latest updates and to follow official OpenAI communication channels for announcements.

In the meantime, affected users may want to explore alternative AI tools or wait for service restoration. The outage serves as a reminder of the growing dependence on AI services and the potential disruption when these centralized platforms experience technical difficulties.

The incident also raises questions about the scalability of AI services as adoption continues to grow rapidly, particularly with the recent launch of the Codex Mac app and increased integration with development tools like Xcode.