On December 26, 2024, ChatGPT, OpenAI's flagship AI chatbot, experienced a significant outage affecting users worldwide.
The disruption began around 2 p.m. ET, coinciding with a surge in user activity following the Christmas holiday. Many users reported issues accessing the service, leading to widespread frustration and speculation about the cause of the outage.
Key Takeaways
ChatGPT experienced a major outage on December 26, 2024, affecting users globally.
The outage began around 2 p.m. ET and lasted for several hours.
OpenAI attributed the issues to problems with an upstream provider.
Users reported various error messages, including "Internal Server Error" and "Something went wrong."
This incident marks one of the most significant outages for ChatGPT in recent months.
Overview Of The Outage
The outage was first reported on Downdetector, with over 50,000 users indicating problems accessing ChatGPT. Many users found that the service was either completely unavailable or returned error messages when they attempted to send prompts. The issues were not limited to the web version; mobile app users also faced difficulties, with the send button often rendered inactive.
User Reactions
As the outage unfolded, social media platforms lit up with user reactions. Many took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their frustrations, with some jokingly lamenting the return to thinking for themselves. Memes circulated, highlighting the sudden reliance on AI for everyday tasks and the challenges posed when it was unavailable.
OpenAI's Response
OpenAI acknowledged the outage on its status page, stating that they were investigating the issue. They later confirmed that the problems were linked to an upstream provider, which caused high error rates across ChatGPT and its API services. Despite the company's efforts to resolve the situation, many users remained unable to access the service for several hours.
Previous Outages
This incident is not the first time ChatGPT has faced significant downtime. Earlier in December, users experienced elevated error rates, and a major outage occurred in November 2024, attributed to a DDoS attack. These recurring issues have raised concerns about the platform's reliability, especially as it continues to grow in popularity.
Conclusion
The December 26 outage serves as a reminder of the challenges faced by rapidly evolving AI technologies. As more users rely on ChatGPT for various tasks, ensuring consistent service availability will be crucial for OpenAI. The company is expected to address these issues as they continue to enhance their infrastructure and user experience.
Sources
ChatGPT has gone down the day after Christmas | Mashable, Mashable.
ChatGPT down nearly all day, chat history still in progress | Digital Trends, Digital Trends.
ChatGPT Is Down—Here's What We Know, Forbes.
ChatGPT and Sora were down – here’s what we know about OpenAI's outage | TechRadar, TechRadar.
ChatGPT is back online after an outage - The Verge, The Verge.
ChatGPT went down twice in massive outage — here's what OpenAI says | Tom's Guide, Tom's Guide.
