Global disruption hits ChatGPT, OpenAI tools: Users locked out, services stall amid surge in errors

In a widespread disruption early July 15, OpenAI’s flagship AI chatbot ChatGPT and several of its related services experienced a global outage, leaving users unable to log in, process requests, or retrieve past chats. The outage, which began around 6 AM IST on July 16, escalated sharply within an hour and affected users across continents — including India, the US, Europe, and parts of Asia.

Downdetector data showed that over 91% of reported issues were tied to ChatGPT, with the rest involving OpenAI’s other offerings like Sora, Codex, and the GPT API. While some users encountered blank screens or got stuck in login verification loops, others found their conversations abruptly interrupted — resulting in lost data.

Developers relying on Codex for real-time coding assistance and creators using Sora to generate videos reported sluggish responses or failed executions, prompting concern across creative and tech communities. Frustration mounted as screenshots of error messages, loading loops, and empty interfaces circulated online.

OpenAI acknowledged the issue on its official status page, citing “elevated error rates” and “degraded performance” across multiple services. The company also pointed to an unexpected technical change involving ChatGPT’s connectors, which had been “automatically enabled.” Though the exact cause has not been disclosed, OpenAI stated that mitigation efforts were underway during the peak of the disruption.

By late morning, the company confirmed recovery. “All impacted services have now fully recovered,” read the latest update on OpenAI’s status tracker.

This is the second major outage for OpenAI in less than a month, raising questions about reliability for millions who now depend on these AI tools for professional, academic, and creative tasks.

Despite the resolution, OpenAI has yet to release a detailed explanation of what triggered the failure — leaving users wary about future disruptions.