FameEX Hot Topics | OpenAI Issues Apology for Outage Triggered by Apple Update Integrating Siri with ChatGPT

On Dec. 11, ChatGPT suffered a global outage beginning at approximately 11:07 PM UTC, disrupting access for millions of users. OpenAI issued an apology to its 200 million active users after the incident, which occurred shortly after ChatGPT’s integration into Apple’s latest software update.

The outage coincided with the launch of ChatGPT’s integration into Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant, across iPhones, iPads, and Macs. This update enables Siri to utilize ChatGPT for answering complex queries, such as those related to photos and documents. Announced on Dec. 11, Apple emphasized the feature’s enhanced visual intelligence, allowing users to “learn more about the places and objects around them.” These ChatGPT-powered capabilities are available on most iPhone 15 models and newer devices.

During the disruption, users attempting to access ChatGPT’s API received messages indicating, “ChatGPT is currently unavailable.” OpenAI reassured users it had “identified the issue” and was “working to roll out a fix.” The company noted that its video generation model, Sora, was also impacted.

Downdetector data showed a surge in reports of network failures beginning at 11:07 PM UTC, with a peak of 1,532 outage reports within 15 minutes, roughly 30 minutes after the issue began. The volume of reports gradually declined thereafter. By 3:53 AM UTC on Dec. 12, OpenAI announced that traffic to ChatGPT and Sora had “largely recovered.” However, the company has not confirmed whether the outage was directly related to the Apple integration.

This marks at least the fourth major outage for ChatGPT since June, following similar incidents in June and August. While services are restored, the timing underscores challenges in deploying advanced AI technologies, raising concerns about platform stability during major updates.

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