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On Wednesday night, ChatGPT users around the world faced disruptions while trying to access OpenAI’s chatbot. The outage began around 8:30 p.m., as reported by Down Detector, a platform that tracks service interruptions. Users from various countries, including Japan and Australia, reported difficulties in using the chatbot.
OpenAI Responds to the Outage
The San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company acknowledged the issue and assured users that an investigation was underway. Approximately 15 minutes later, OpenAI provided an update stating, “We are starting to see recovery in API and Sora,” while emphasizing that they were continuing to look into the problem. The issue was fully resolved just before midnight EST.
A spokesperson from OpenAI confirmed after midnight, “All systems are currently operational,” signaling that the company had successfully addressed the disruption.
This is not the first time OpenAI has experienced outages. In late December, ChatGPT and other OpenAI applications faced a significant disruption. The company later explained that the problem had been caused by an upstream provider—an entity that connects a local internet service provider to the global internet network.
Outage Follows OpenAI’s Major Educational Initiative
The recent service disruption occurred just a day after OpenAI announced an ambitious expansion in the education sector. The company revealed plans to launch an education-specific version of ChatGPT for around 500,000 students and faculty members at California State University. This initiative aims to strengthen OpenAI’s foothold in academia while competing with industry rivals such as Google’s Alphabet.
As OpenAI continues to expand its reach, maintaining reliable service will be crucial to ensuring user trust and seamless AI-driven experiences. The company is expected to closely monitor its systems to prevent similar incidents in the future.
