ChatGPT Outage Traced to Cloudflare Traffic Spike
Key Points
- OpenAI confirms ChatGPT outage is caused by a third‑party provider.
- Cloudflare cites an unusual traffic spike as the source of network errors.
- Both ChatGPT and OpenAI's Sora video tool are unavailable for millions of users.
- The issue also disrupts other major sites such as IKEA, Spotify, League of Legends, and X.com.
- Updates are being posted on the status pages of OpenAI and Cloudflare.
OpenAI confirmed that a widespread outage affecting ChatGPT, its Sora video generation tool and other services was caused by an issue with third‑party provider Cloudflare. Cloudflare reported an unusual surge in traffic that disrupted its network, leading to errors for millions of users across numerous popular websites. Both companies posted updates on their status pages, indicating that the problem lies outside OpenAI’s own infrastructure and that resolution depends on Cloudflare’s remediation efforts.
OpenAI Acknowledges Third‑Party Cause
OpenAI posted a statement on its service status page indicating that the current disruption to ChatGPT and related products is the result of an issue with a third‑party service provider. The company explicitly said, "We have confirmed that the incident is caused by an issue with one of our third‑party service providers. We will provide updates as they become available." This acknowledgment shifts responsibility for the outage away from OpenAI’s own servers.
Cloudflare Attributes Outage to Traffic Spike
Cloudflare, the internet security and performance firm that powers many high‑traffic sites, issued its own explanation. According to its status update, "We saw a spike in unusual traffic to one of Cloudflare's services beginning at 11:20 UTC. That caused some traffic passing through Cloudflare's network to experience errors." The company noted that the cause of the traffic surge is still under investigation and that its teams are working to restore normal service.
Widespread Impact Across the Web
The disruption extended beyond OpenAI’s offerings. Users reported errors when trying to access ChatGPT on both web and mobile platforms, as well as OpenAI’s Sora video generation tool, which was down for millions of users. Cloudflare’s outage also affected other high‑profile services, including IKEA, Spotify, League of Legends, and X.com, illustrating the breadth of the impact when a core internet infrastructure provider experiences problems.
Current Status and Next Steps
OpenAI has pledged to keep users informed via its status page, while Cloudflare continues to investigate the source of the traffic spike and work on remediation. Both companies emphasize that resolution depends on fixing the underlying issue within Cloudflare’s network. Users are advised to monitor official status updates for the latest information.