ChatGPT has experienced a significant outage, with OpenAI confirming widespread service disruptions affecting users. The chatbot, known for generating human-like responses and assisting with various queries, has grown rapidly since its launch in November 2022, becoming a widely used AI tool with approximately 500 million users globally.
The issue was first investigated at 7:36 am on Tuesday, with OpenAI later acknowledging the problem on its website at 11:30 am, stating: "Some users are experiencing elevated error rates and latency across the listed services. We are continuing to investigate this issue."
OpenAI addresses technical failure
Two hours after its initial statement, OpenAI reported that the root cause of the outage had been identified and that work was underway to implement a fix.
During the disruption, users encountered various error messages, including "Hmmm... something seems to have gone wrong," while others saw notifications stating "A network error occurred. Please check your connection and try again."
Many users also complained of longer response times, making interactions with the chatbot frustrating.
A growing AI powerhouse
OpenAI, currently valued at $300 billion, is among the world’s most valuable private companies. The firm reported in February 2025 that it had more than 400 million weekly active users, including 10 million paying subscribers on ChatGPT Plus.
Recently, OpenAI launched GPT-4o, an AI image-generation feature, which became available to free-tier users.
AI’s increasing role in society
The rise of AI has sparked ongoing debates about its impact on society. While some argue that it enhances efficiency by reducing time-consuming tasks, others worry that it could replace jobs and profit from human creativity.
There has also been concern over AI use in education, with reports of students using platforms like ChatGPT to assist with school and university work, raising academic integrity issues.
Preparing for an AI-driven future
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced new educational initiatives aimed at equipping secondary school students with AI-related skills to help them secure jobs in the evolving digital economy.
According to research by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), AI is projected to play a role in the jobs of around 10 million workers by 2035.
OpenAI continues to monitor the situation as it works on restoring ChatGPT's services for its global user base.
The business was started by Sir Anwar Pervez.getty images
