We are currently experiencing an outage. We have identified the issue and are working to introduce a solution.

Sorry, we’ll keep you updated!

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) December 12, 2024

ChatGPT was unavailable to users around the world for almost three hours as users experienced issues on the web and also in the app. There is currently no clarity as to what caused this outage. Coincidentally, this happened just a few hours after Meta’s WhatsApp and Facebook also went down.

The outage left millions of users unable to access the chatbot, and people weren’t happy about it, especially those who pay $20 for a Plus membership or $200 for a Pro membership.

Digital services experience outages for a variety of reasons, despite brands’ best efforts. These can range from technical glitches such as software failures, hardware failures or network congestion to human errors in coding or system maintenance, and it is difficult to attribute a failure to a specific problem unless confirmed by the manufacturer.

Unexpected spikes in user traffic can also overwhelm servers, causing slowdowns or complete outages.

Additionally, external factors such as cyberattacks, natural disasters or even power outages can affect service availability. Unfortunately, as digital infrastructure becomes more complex and interconnected, the potential for disruption remains a constant challenge.