New Delhi (Rajeev Sharma): Users of ChatGPT across multiple countries faced unexpected service interruptions on Friday after the AI platform began experiencing technical problems, preventing many from accessing responses or continuing conversations.
The issue quickly gained attention online as thousands of users reported failed prompts, delayed replies, and sudden error messages while using the chatbot. Complaints surged throughout the day, especially from people relying on the service for office work, studies, research, and content creation.
Many users said the chatbot became unusually slow before eventually stopping altogether. Others encountered messages indicating server or network problems whenever they attempted to send a query.
Downdetector, a platform that tracks online outages, recorded a sharp increase in reports from several Indian cities, including Chennai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Mumbai. Similar complaints also emerged from users in Canada, Australia, and parts of Europe.
Social media platforms were flooded with reactions as confused users tried to confirm whether the disruption was widespread. Some joked about suddenly having to complete work without AI assistance, while others expressed concern over pending assignments and deadlines.
“I thought my internet had stopped working, but then everyone online started reporting the same issue,” one user posted on X. Another user wrote that the chatbot repeatedly froze while generating code snippets for an ongoing project.
Apart from the chatbot itself, a few users also mentioned difficulties accessing conversation history and AI-powered tools connected through third-party apps.
OpenAI had not shared an official explanation immediately after the outage reports surfaced. However, service availability appeared to improve gradually for some users later in the day, although intermittent issues continued in certain regions.
The disruption once again demonstrated the growing role AI tools now play in everyday digital life. From students and freelancers to large businesses, millions depend on these platforms daily, making even temporary outages a major inconvenience.
Users experiencing issues are advised to wait for official updates and retry requests after some time as systems stabilize.
