ChatGPT is down again: Thousands of users reported slow responses and failures due to mysterious OpenAI outage

ChatGPT users are experiencing widespread issues, with the AI chatbot responding slowly or failing entirely due to an ongoing OpenAI outage.

Thousands of ChatGPT users across the globe encountered significant disruptions Tuesday morning as an OpenAI outage slowed the AI chatbot to a crawl or rendered it unusable. The widespread issue, which began around 2:45 AM ET, has persisted for over six hours, affecting everyone from students to developers relying on the service.

OpenAI’s official status page reports “elevated error rates and latency” impacting ChatGPT, its API services, and Sora, the company’s text-to-video platform.

Users are grappling with error messages such as “A network error occurred” or “Hmm… something seems to have gone wrong,” while others face login failures or incomplete responses after long delays. The company has acknowledged the problem but has yet to identify its cause or provide a timeline for resolution.

Data from Downdetector underscores the outage’s scope. Before the incident, user complaints averaged around 25. By mid-morning, reports spiked to between 1,200 and 1,400 in the United States, with a peak of 1,350.

In India, approximately 800 users reported issues by 3 PM IST, with 88% citing chatbot unresponsiveness. The disruption spans multiple regions, making it one of the most significant outages for ChatGPT in recent months.

Frustration is mounting online, particularly among paying subscribers. Megan, a student, expressed dismay: “My friends and I have been struggling to use ChatGPT this morning. We also have exams coming up, so it’s a bit of a nightmare!”

Another user, Daryl, voiced concerns about his £18.99 monthly ChatGPT Plus subscription, noting delays in creating YouTube thumbnails. Even the 4o-mini model, which some users report as intermittently functional, is performing sluggishly.

OpenAI’s response has been limited to periodic updates, with the latest at 8 AM ET stating that the team is “continuing to investigate.”

This outage follows a pattern of recent disruptions, including a three-hour failure last month and incidents in April and December 2024. Each event has drawn scrutiny over OpenAI’s ability to manage surging demand for its services.

Users seeking alternatives are turning to platforms like Google Gemini or Claude AI, though many remain tethered to ChatGPT for its specialized capabilities. OpenAI advises monitoring its status page for developments, but with no clear resolution in sight, patience is wearing thin.

For the thousands affected, the outage serves as a stark reminder of the challenges facing AI-driven platforms under heavy global demand. Until OpenAI restores service, users are left to wait—and perhaps reconsider their reliance on a single provider.

This isn’t ChatGPT’s first outage rodeo. Just last month, a three-hour disruption left users scrambling, and earlier incidents in April and December 2024 caused similar headaches. Each time, OpenAI points to high demand or vague technical glitches, but the lack of clear answers is starting to wear thin