In a troubling recurrence, ChatGPT experienced another widespread outage on December 26, marked by elevated error rates. This technical debacle extended beyond ChatGPT, affecting OpenAI’s Sora and API services, leaving users stranded. The second major disruption in the span of a month has amplified scrutiny over OpenAI’s infrastructure, as repeated malfunctions cast a shadow on its reliability. During the latest disruption, users encountered error messages such as “404 Error, Page Not Found” or “Request is not allowed. Please try again later.” Here’s a closer examination of the situation.
The OpenAI status page categorically described the event as a “major outage” for ChatGPT, while Sora and the API faced a “partial outage.” Reports from frustrated users began flooding in, highlighting their inability to utilize the platform’s features. Even subscribers of ChatGPT Pro, who invest $200 monthly for enhanced access, were not spared the inconvenience.
Acknowledging the disruption, OpenAI issued an update via X, apologizing for the inconvenience and stating, “We’re sorry for the trouble this is causing. We’ve identified the issue and have started recovery.” Subsequent investigations revealed that the outage stemmed from an upstream provider, prompting OpenAI to initiate recovery measures while maintaining vigilant monitoring.
On the X platform, users lamented the service failure, with quips such as, “ChatGPT is down again, back to using my own brain.” Others seized the moment to recommend alternatives like Grok, which remained functional and free during the outage.
This incident follows a similar episode on December 12, when ChatGPT servers were rendered inoperable, and more recently, users encountered sign-up challenges. Compounding the problem, services like DALL-E and the Moderation API were also reported to be malfunctioning. These cascading failures raise concerns about OpenAI’s ability to sustain its ecosystem under growing user demands.
Adding to the woes, the outage impacted more than just the web version of ChatGPT. iPhone users reliant on Siri’s integration with ChatGPT encountered operational hiccups, with certain features rendered inaccessible. This recurring instability means that every technical issue with ChatGPT cascades into limitations for iPhone users dependent on its ecosystem.
