Finance

ChatGPT Outage Shocks Users as OpenAI Battles Major Service Disruption

2025-06-10

Author: Yan

In a startling turn of events, ChatGPT has experienced a significant outage, leaving countless users frustrated and wondering when they can resume their AI interactions. OpenAI, the mastermind behind this advanced chatbot, acknowledged the issue as it unfolded, reporting widespread disruptions affecting many of its services.

ChatGPT, known for its human-like conversations and ability to generate readable text from an extensive database, has rapidly gained popularity since its launch in November 2022. With around 500 million users globally, it has become an essential tool for many.

The problems began just before 11:30 AM on Tuesday, when OpenAI posted on its website, stating, "Some users are experiencing elevated error rates and latency across the listed services. We are continuing to investigate this issue." By the afternoon, they confirmed they had identified the cause, but by 5:30 PM, users still faced 'degraded performance' as the platform worked towards recovery.

Many users took to social media, sharing screen captures of the bot’s unhelpful responses, such as, "Hmmm... something seems to have gone wrong," alongside error messages that instructed users to check their connections. Frustration grew as response times from the app noticeably lagged.

The investigation into the outage is believed to have started at 7:36 AM on the same day. Amid this, OpenAI, a company valued at a staggering $300 billion and one of the world's most valuable private entities, continues to thrive with over 400 million weekly active users, including 10 million paid subscribers.

In recent highlights, OpenAI introduced a new AI image generation feature, GPT-4o, now available for free users, further enhancing its suite of services.

The rapid rise of AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, has ignited debates worldwide. Critics warn about potential job losses and the commodification of creativity, while supporters advocate for its efficiency in reducing laborious tasks and freeing up time for valuable endeavors. Concerns also linger around academic integrity, with educational institutions grappling with students potentially misusing AI for cheating.

In a move to adapt to the technological landscape, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced new educational initiatives aimed at equipping secondary school students with the skills needed for future AI-driven careers.