OpenAI experienced a significant outage affecting ChatGPT, Sora, and its developer API, which began at approximately 3 pm PT on Wednesday. The company reported that services resumed around 9 pm PT.
In a tweet, OpenAI confirmed, “ChatGPT, API, and Sora were down today but we’ve recovered.” During the downtime, users encountered error messages indicating that ChatGPT was unavailable, with the company working diligently to rectify the issue. The exact cause of the outage remains uncertain, although Edwin Arbus, OpenAI’s developer community lead, suggested that a configuration change had rendered many servers inoperable.
This service interruption coincided with the launch of OpenAI’s integration with Apple as part of the iOS 18.2 update. Several users reported issues accessing ChatGPT through Apple Intelligence, which may have been impacted by the outage. It’s worth noting that OpenAI assured users that this disruption was not connected to their ongoing promotional event, the “12 days of OpenAI,” which marks daily product announcements leading up to the holiday season. Earlier this week, OpenAI also launched Sora, but faced an overwhelming interest that limited user sign-ups while others experienced capacity issues.
This recent series of product launches and updates underscores OpenAI’s commitment to innovation, even as it navigates the challenges of rapidly scaling its services to meet user demand.
In light of the successful recovery from the outage, it reflects OpenAI’s resilience and the importance of quick problem resolution in the tech landscape. As they continue to innovate and expand their offerings, users can remain hopeful that these hiccups will lead to more robust and reliable services in the future.