Source: Mint
New Delhi, October 6: OpenAI’s ChatGPT experienced a serious breakdown on Monday, which left users in India and the U.S. unable to access the AI chatbot on both the app and browser. The incident resulted in a flood of complaints and reactions on social media while also exposing how dependent people have become on the tool for work, study, and daily activities.
Downdetector stated that the initial reports of problems began at around 12:54 PM (IST), and at 1:10 PM, almost 627 users in India and more than 150 users in the US encountered problems.
Outage in India
In India, approximately 82% of users were completely unable to use ChatGPT. About 12% encountered issues with the browser version, while 6% experienced issues with app version. Major cities affected by the outage included Chandigarh, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Hyderabad. Users in these cities reported error messages and connection problems, which stopped them from being able to continue their work or studies that relied on ChatGPT.
Responses to the Outage on Social Media.
The outage rapidly spread, trending on X (formerly Twitter), where users mixed humor and frustration in their posts. @roubalsehgal posted: “Okay, ChatGPT is down.. I’m not alone,” along with a screenshot showing it could not process messages.
One user reported: “This is the worst time for ChatGPT to be down.”
@mohfad_dev highlighted, “ChatGPT is down but nothing is being shown in their status page.” And many shared memes and jokes, emphasizing how embedded ChatGPT is in their lives, from assignments to work tasks.
OpenAI Response and Updates
Currently, OpenAI has yet to offer an official reasoning for the outage or an estimate for restoring services, and it is suggested to continue to check OpenAI’s official channels for any updates.
OpenAI made an announcement recently about improvements to its GPT-5 Instant model to facilitate sensitive or upsetting conversations. According to the company, the enhancements provide faster and more reflective responses and will clearly indicate which version the user is interacting with each time they prompt. These features allow for a better user experience that aligns with their time frame and offers support in tough times.
The outage emphasizes growing dependence on AI tools, such as ChatGPT, and the extent to which even a short outage impacts work, education, and daily life. OpenAI is working to fix the outage, as users in India and the US wait for services to resume.
