Is ChatGPT down? Here’s what you should know

ChatGPT, the popular artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI, experienced a service disruption on February 3, leaving thousands of users across the United States temporarily unable to access the platform.

Reports of the outage began surfacing in the mid-afternoon, with users complaining of connection issues, slow responses, and complete service unavailability. The disruption quickly drew attention on social media and outage-monitoring platforms as usage problems spiked well above normal levels.

Spike in User Reports

According to data from Downdetector, a website that tracks real-time service issues based on user submissions, reports of ChatGPT problems surged sharply at approximately 3:20 p.m. Eastern Time.

At its peak, the platform recorded more than 13,000 outage reports, a significant jump from its usual baseline of fewer than 20 reports during normal operations. The surge indicated a widespread issue rather than isolated connectivity problems.

As engineers worked behind the scenes, the number of reported incidents began to decline. By shortly before 4:00 p.m. ET, reports had dropped to around 3,700, and continued falling to below 1,000 soon afterward—suggesting that access was gradually being restored for most users.

OpenAI Responds

OpenAI acknowledged the disruption on its official system status page, confirming that the company had identified the issue and taken steps to address it.

In a brief update, the company said it had applied the “necessary mitigations” and was actively monitoring the recovery process to ensure services returned to normal operation. While OpenAI did not immediately disclose the root cause of the outage, the update indicated that the situation was stabilizing.

Why ChatGPT Outages Matter

ChatGPT is widely used for a range of purposes, including customer support, software development, education, research, content creation, and business operations. Even short interruptions can have outsized effects, particularly for professionals and companies that rely on the tool for daily workflows.

The February 3 outage highlights the growing dependence on AI-driven platforms—and the pressure on providers like OpenAI to maintain reliability as usage continues to scale globally.

Service Appears Largely Restored

By late afternoon, access to ChatGPT appeared to be restored for the majority of users, though some continued to report intermittent issues. OpenAI has not yet indicated whether a detailed post-incident report will be released.

As AI tools become increasingly embedded in everyday digital life, even brief outages tend to draw swift attention—underscoring just how central platforms like ChatGPT have become.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Was ChatGPT down on February 3?
Yes, thousands of users in the United States reported issues accessing ChatGPT on February 3.

When did the outage start?
Reports spiked around 3:20 p.m. Eastern Time, according to Downdetector data.

How many users were affected?
At the peak, more than 13,000 users reported issues.

Did OpenAI fix the problem?
OpenAI said it applied mitigations and was monitoring recovery, with reports declining shortly afterward.

What caused the outage?
OpenAI has not publicly disclosed the specific cause.