OpenAI’s ubiquitous artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT, alongside its related services including Sora and various APIs, experienced a significant and widespread global outage today. The disruption left millions of users, from tech professionals to students across continents, including Africa, unable to access the highly popular platform, underscoring the world’s burgeoning dependence on AI.
Reports of the service interruption began surging on outage tracking websites like DownDetector early on Tuesday, June 10. By 6:44 a.m. GMT, 705 complaints had already been registered, a number that rapidly escalated throughout the morning as users worldwide attempted to access the AI assistant. Users encountered a range of issues, from complete unresponsiveness and persistent “Hmm…something seems to have gone wrong” error messages to frustrating login loops and blank chat interfaces. Both free-tier users and subscribers to the premium ChatGPT Plus service were equally affected, confirming the profound nature of the technical fault.
OpenAI swiftly acknowledged the unfolding crisis on its official status page. Initially, the company stated, “Some users are experiencing elevated error rates and latency across the listed services. We are continuing to investigate this issue.” Later updates from OpenAI indicated that the root cause of the elevated errors and latency across its services had been identified, and mitigation efforts were actively underway. However, no concrete timeline for a full resolution and restoration of normal service was provided, leaving users in limbo.
The outage brought into sharp focus the deep integration of AI tools into daily academic, professional, and personal lives. Social media platforms, particularly X (formerly Twitter), became a hub for frustrated users sharing screenshots of error messages and lamenting lost work. The incident prompted a wave of humorous, albeit poignant, memes depicting the sudden paralysis many felt without their AI companion.
As ChatGPT remained largely inaccessible, rival AI chatbots stepped into the void. Platforms like Google’s Gemini, Elon Musk’s Grok, and Perplexity AI reportedly continued to function without interruption, offering users much-needed alternatives for tasks ranging from drafting emails and generating code to conducting research. This unexpected market test highlighted the growing competitive landscape in the AI sector and the readiness of alternative solutions for users in need.
With its rapid growth since its launch in November 2022, accumulating an estimated 500 million users globally, ChatGPT has become a cornerstone of digital interaction. This latest outage, following similar disruptions in December, January, and March, serves as a potent reminder of the inherent vulnerabilities within advanced AI infrastructure and the critical importance of developing resilient and robust systems to support the world’s increasing reliance on artificial intelligence.
