OpenAI has confirmed it is actively working to resolve technical problems affecting ChatGPT after the artificial intelligence platform became inaccessible to users across the United States on Tuesday afternoon.
The company stated it is implementing a mitigation solution following widespread reports of service disruptions that prevented thousands of people from accessing the popular chatbot during the middle of the working day.
The scale of the disruption became apparent through user reports logged on Downdetector.com, the outage monitoring platform that aggregates status complaints from multiple sources. By 3:45 pm Eastern Time, the tracking service had recorded more than 12,000 separate incident reports from people experiencing difficulties with ChatGPT.
The problems began manifesting at approximately 3:32 pm EST, according to Downdetector’s timeline data. The service disruption struck during peak afternoon hours when many business users and individuals typically rely on the AI assistant for various tasks.
Downdetector’s monitoring systems flagged the emerging issue and alerted the public through its official X account, posting that “user reports indicate problems at OpenAI.” The tracking platform collates incoming status reports from numerous channels to identify when services experience technical difficulties.
The outage affected users attempting to access ChatGPT’s web interface, though the full technical scope of the problem has not been detailed by OpenAI. The company has not specified which aspects of its service were impacted or provided an estimated timeframe for complete service restoration.
ChatGPT has become an essential tool for millions of users worldwide since its public launch, with people relying on it for everything from drafting emails and conducting research to coding assistance and creative writing projects. Any extended downtime creates immediate productivity impacts for both professional and personal users.
OpenAI’s acknowledgment that mitigation efforts are underway suggests the company has identified the root cause and is actively deploying fixes. However, no public statement has been issued explaining what triggered the Tuesday afternoon service disruption.
The incident highlights the growing dependence on cloud-based AI services and the immediate visibility of any technical problems through real-time monitoring platforms like Downdetector. Users experiencing ongoing issues can check Downdetector.com for live status updates as OpenAI works to restore full functionality to the platform.
