OpenAI apologized to users after a global outage of ChatGPT, which occurred shortly after its integration with Apple’s latest software update.
The outage began at about 11:07 p.m. UTC and affected users globally. OpenAI acknowledged the issue, stating that it had been identified and they were working to resolve it.
By Dec. 12, service had returned to normal, and some regions, including Australia, had recovered full access.
We’re experiencing an outage right now. We have identified the issue and are working to roll out a fix.
Sorry and we’ll keep you updated!
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) December 12, 2024
ChatGPT’s Outage
This outage occurred the same day Apple released an update that added ChatGPT capability to Siri. Siri can now answer more complicated questions by tapping into the AI chatbot for responses to photographs, papers, and other searches.
While OpenAI has not connected the outage to this integration, the timing raises concerns about a possible link. Many customers attempting to use ChatGPT received a warning stating that the service was inaccessible.
OpenAI confirmed that the chatbot and its video model, Sora, were affected. By early morning on Dec. 12, both services were partially restored. According to Downdetector, a real-time outage monitoring platform, the outage peaked at 1,532 reports within 15 minutes.
However, the number of reports declined after that, indicating that OpenAI resolved the problem gradually. It isn’t the first time ChatGPT has been unavailable for a substantial time; similar issues were observed in June and August.
Siri’s New ChatGPT Integration
By adding ChatGPT to Siri, Apple hopes to make the virtual assistant smarter to provide more exact and thorough answers. This capability is accessible on iPhone 15 and later models.
Despite the downtime, the integration shows Apple’s openness to enhancing the quality of Siri’s responses. However, Apple has not acknowledged whether the new function caused the downtime.
Thus, the source of the disruption remains unknown.
Meta Platforms Also Reported Outages
This recent incident adds to the growing list of technical interruptions big tech companies have encountered lately. For instance, Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram) suffered an outage on the same day.
Meta addressed 99% of the issues within a few hours, underlining the persistent challenges of keeping platforms operational. As of this report, ChatGPT is back up in most regions.
However, OpenAI has yet to provide a complete explanation for the outage. OpenAI’s collaboration with Apple is the latest in a series of collaborations with various firms, including Worldcoin, aiming to use its AI chatbot.
