In an unusual turn of events, multiple AI chat services experienced significant outages on Tuesday morning, affecting users worldwide. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, along with Anthropic’s Claude and Perplexity, all went offline in the early hours, leaving many without access to their AI-driven assistance.
The initial incident occurred around 7:33 AM PT when ChatGPT users found themselves unable to message the chatbot. This marked the beginning of a multi-hour outage, which was resolved around 10:17 AM PT. During this downtime, the ChatGPT landing page displayed a whimsical capacity message in pirate speak, promising to notify users when the service was back online.
Simultaneously, Claude and Perplexity began experiencing issues, though these were resolved more swiftly than ChatGPT’s outage. Users attempting to access Claude encountered an error message about server component rendering issues, advising them to try again later. Perplexity’s site, on the other hand, showed an over-capacity message, indicating the service was receiving too many requests. Both services returned to normal operation around the same time, shortly after 12:10 PM ET, though Perplexity continued to experience intermittent outages.
While Google’s Gemini appeared to be functioning normally, some users reported brief downtime, suggesting a potential wider infrastructure issue. The simultaneous outages across these major AI providers hint at a broader internet-scale problem, akin to those that periodically disrupt multiple social media platforms.
The recent events follow closely on the heels of a previous lengthy outage for ChatGPT, which had been down overnight. OpenAI’s status page noted a bug fix and monitoring process starting around 12:21 AM PT. Despite these efforts, the service was still experiencing issues as of 12:28 PM ET, classified as a “major outage” on the status page.
The exact cause of these disruptions remains unclear. It’s possible that Claude and Perplexity’s problems stemmed from an influx of traffic due to ChatGPT’s downtime. However, no official statements have been made by the AI providers regarding the root cause of the outages.
These AI outages are occurring amidst other online disruptions. Forbes reports a zero-day spam attack on TikTok, targeting celebrity and brand accounts, including those of Paris Hilton and CNN.
As users await further updates, the affected AI providers have yet to respond to requests for comments or additional information. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as more details emerge.
For those relying on these AI services, the unexpected outages highlight the growing dependency on artificial intelligence in daily operations and the broader implications of such disruptions. As the situation develops, users are encouraged to check status pages and official communications for real-time updates.
