ChatGPT Faces Widespread Outage: Users in India and Globally Report Access Issues
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ChatGPT is down -- latest updates on outage
ChatGPT looks to be suffering some sort of outage with users reporting that the AI chatbot was not working. We noticed an initial spike on the outage tracking site Down Detector around 7:45 a.m. PT. However, that spike quickly went away only to return a two hours later around 9:30 a.m. The official OpenAI status page has ChatGPT listed as "experiencing issues." Specifically, it says the AI assistant is having "conversation errors." Keep it here as we track the outage and provide the latest updates on the current ChatGPT issues. OpenAI's biggest AI model has gone down for varying periods several times this year with the most recent major incident occurring in June.
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Is ChatGPT down? Indian users report login issues a day after launch of OpenAI's ₹399 plan
Many ChatGPT users across India reported service disruptions on Wednesday, leaving several frustrated and unable to access the popular AI chatbot. The outage began around 11:30 AM IST, with reports of delayed responses, login errors, and complete inaccessibility quickly surfacing. According to outage tracker Downdetector, more than 500 reports were logged within a short time, with a majority of complaints linked to the ChatGPT app. About 55% of users reported direct issues with ChatGPT, 41% highlighted problems with the OpenAI website, while 4% experienced errors on the mobile app. The disruptions were widespread, with the outage map suggesting impact across several regions in India. Users quickly took to social media to express their frustration, with many unable to load conversations or initiate new chats. OpenAI later confirmed that the issue on its official status page, acknowledging an "elevated error rate" affecting ChatGPT across multiple platforms, including the website, mobile apps, WhatsApp integration, and other related tools. Interestingly, this downtime came just a day after OpenAI launched its India-exclusive subscription plan, ChatGPT Go, priced at ₹399 per month. The new plan provides access to GPT-5, expanded chats, uploads, longer memory and context, faster image generation limits, and limited deep research capabilities. Positioned as a more affordable alternative to the ChatGPT Plus plan (₹1,999/month), ChatGPT Go was seen as a major step to broaden the AI tool's user base in India. ChatGPT reported minor disruptions yesterday also. However, the August 20 outage marked one of the most widespread disruptions in recent weeks, affecting a large number of users simultaneously. Thankfully, normal operations were restored after nearly two hours of downtime, and OpenAI assured users that recovery was being monitored.
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ChatGPT experienced a significant outage affecting users globally, with particular impact in India. The disruption came shortly after OpenAI launched its India-exclusive subscription plan, ChatGPT Go.
Global ChatGPT Outage Disrupts Service
On August 20, 2023, ChatGPT, the popular AI chatbot developed by OpenAI, experienced a significant outage affecting users worldwide. The disruption began around 7:45 a.m. PT, with a noticeable spike in reports on Down Detector, a prominent outage tracking site
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.OpenAI's official status page acknowledged the issue, listing ChatGPT as "experiencing issues" and specifically mentioning "conversation errors"
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. The outage impacted various platforms, including the website, mobile apps, WhatsApp integration, and other related tools2
.Widespread Impact in India
Source: Tom's Guide
The outage had a particularly notable impact in India, where users reported service disruptions starting around 11:30 AM IST. According to Downdetector, over 500 reports were logged within a short period, with the majority of complaints related to the ChatGPT app
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.User reports indicated various issues:
- 55% reported direct problems with ChatGPT
- 41% highlighted issues with the OpenAI website
- 4% experienced errors on the mobile app
The outage map suggested widespread impact across several regions in India, with users expressing frustration on social media due to their inability to load conversations or initiate new chats
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.Timing and Recent Developments
Interestingly, this service disruption occurred just a day after OpenAI launched its India-exclusive subscription plan, ChatGPT Go, priced at ₹399 per month. This new plan offers access to GPT-5, expanded chats, uploads, longer memory and context, faster image generation limits, and limited deep research capabilities
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.The ChatGPT Go plan is positioned as a more affordable alternative to the ChatGPT Plus plan (₹1,999/month) and was seen as a strategic move to broaden the AI tool's user base in India
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.
Source: Economic Times
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Resolution and Past Incidents
After approximately two hours of downtime, normal operations were restored. OpenAI assured users that they were monitoring the recovery process
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.It's worth noting that this is not an isolated incident. OpenAI's largest AI model has experienced downtime several times this year, with the most recent major incident occurring in June
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. However, the August 20 outage marked one of the most widespread disruptions in recent weeks, affecting a large number of users simultaneously2
.As AI tools like ChatGPT become increasingly integrated into daily workflows and business operations, such outages highlight the importance of robust infrastructure and quick response times in maintaining user trust and service reliability.
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