Users of the popular artificial intelligence service ChatGPT are facing widespread problems this evening as a significant global outage hits the platform.
OpenAI Acknowledges Widespread Issues
OpenAI has officially confirmed it is "experiencing issues" with its ChatGPT service. In a statement released on the evening of Tuesday, 2nd December 2025, the company acknowledged the problems and stated it was actively "working on implementing a mitigation" to resolve the disruption. The confirmation came after a flood of user reports from around the world.
User Reports Detail Lag, Crashes and Timeouts
The problems appear to be affecting a vast number of users globally. Reports from individuals trying to access the AI chatbot indicate a range of frustrating technical faults. Common issues include severe lag, requests timing out, and the application or interface crashing completely. The outage is preventing normal interaction with the AI, disrupting work, study, and personal use for millions.
The scale of the reports suggests this is not an isolated incident but a major system failure impacting core services. The timing, during evening hours in the UK, has caught many users during peak usage times.
Impact and Ongoing Resolution Efforts
As one of the world's most utilised AI platforms, a prolonged outage of ChatGPT has significant consequences. It disrupts workflows for professionals, students, and developers who rely on the tool for daily tasks. The incident underscores the growing dependence on always-available cloud-based AI services and the disruption caused when they fail.
OpenAI's team is now racing to identify the root cause of the failure and restore full service. The company has not provided an estimated time for a full resolution, but its confirmation indicates the issue is a high-priority incident. Users are advised to check OpenAI's official status channels for further updates.
