An outage has disrupted the services of ChatGPT, the widely used large language model chatbot developed by OpenAI. Users are currently facing error messages such as “503 Service Temporarily Unavailable” and “Bad gateway – The web server reported a bad gateway error” on both desktop and mobile devices.
The problem started around 3:33 AM PST on Thursday, January 23rd, 2025, according to ChatGPT’s status page. OpenAI has acknowledged the issue and is actively investigating the root cause. The “Bad Gateway” error suggests that the server being accessed couldn’t receive a proper response from another server it needed to communicate with.
Speculations are rife about the possible causes behind the outage, with the conjecture ranging from a technical glitch to a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. A DDoS attack aims to flood a website or service with traffic, rendering it inaccessible to genuine users.
Notably, considering ChatGPT’s extensive user base of over 200 million weekly active users, it stands as an attractive target for cyberattacks. In a concerning incident last year, a group known as Anonymous Sudan claimed responsibility for a DDoS attack that coincided with a previous service disruption.
As of now, it remains uncertain how long the outage will persist. OpenAI has been actively updating their status page to keep users informed about their ongoing efforts to rectify the issue.
Despite the lack of a definitive attribution for the outage, the abrupt onset and the error message suggest a DDoS attack as a likely cause. However, OpenAI is yet to confirm this speculation.
On the other hand, technical glitches cannot be ruled out as the reason behind the disruption. The fact that OpenAI is acknowledging and working on a resolution indicates a potential technical issue.
This incident marks the second disruption since December 2024 for ChatGPT, pointing towards recurring challenges in maintaining uninterrupted service. Last month witnessed both ChatGPT and the company’s video generation model, Sora, facing similar interruptions in their services for several hours.
This scenario is still evolving, and updates will be provided as soon as new information emerges. Stay tuned for further developments on this ongoing issue with ChatGPT’s outage.