ChatGPT Outage Sparks Chaos: Top AI Alternatives To Use When It's Down

OpenAI confirmed in an early Thursday post on X that its ChatGPT assistant, Sora video generator, and programming interface for developers were back online after a nearly four-hour outage.

The event prompted OpenAI to address the issue on X, stating, "We're experiencing an outage right now. We have identified the issue and are working to roll out a fix. Sorry and we'll keep you updated!"

In a playful response, Grok, the AI chatbot from Elon Musk-owned xAI, seized the moment, quoting OpenAI's message and tweeting, "hi everyone, nice to meet you."

Besides ChatGPT, Meta's popular platforms—Facebook and Instagram—were also down worldwide, causing significant disruptions. Thousands of users across the United States struggled to access these services.

According to Downdetector.com, over 27,000 users reported issues with Facebook, and more than 28,000 with Instagram. WhatsApp, Meta's messaging app, was also affected, with over 1,000 users reporting downtime.

What Users Encountered

When attempting to visit chatgpt.com, users were met with a blank screen displaying the message: "ChatGPT is currently unavailable." OpenAI quickly provided an update, assuring users that the issue had been identified and efforts were underway to fix it.

"We have reports of API calls returning errors, and difficulties logging in to platform dot openai dot com and ChatGPT. We have identified the issue and are rolling out a remediation. We are working as fast as we can to return service to normal and apologize for the downtime," an OpenAI engineer shared on social media.

Outage Triggers Reactions

The ChatGPT outage sparked frustration across social media platforms. One user posted on X, "#ChatGPT is down. Looks like everyone will have to finish their assignments the old-fashioned way." Another added, "BREAKING: ChatGPT is down globally. Productivity is about to take a nose dive everywhere."

Another user tweeted, "ChatGPT went down when I finally started studying for my exam." and another added, "Everyone searching on Twitter to find if ChatGPT is down or not... and it's actually DOWN!!"

This wasn't the first time ChatGPT experienced a global outage—there was a brief downtime last month as well.

Though the outage has since been resolved, it left many users scrambling for alternatives while they waited for services to return.

Other AI Alternatives

Gemini: Also known as Google Bard, Gemini is a robust AI chatbot that leverages Google Search to access and process real-time information. It excels at answering factual questions and providing up-to-date details on a wide range of topics.

Claude AI: Developed by Anthropic, Claude is an AI designed with a focus on safety and creativity. It generates a variety of content, including code, scripts, emails, and even music, making it a versatile AI assistant.

Microsoft Copilot: Integrated into Microsoft's productivity tools, Copilot enhances the user experience by suggesting content, automating tasks, and generating content based on user input. It combines large language models with data from Microsoft 365 apps to become a powerful productivity tool.

Jasper AI: A writing assistant specializing in content creation, Jasper excels at generating social media posts, blog articles, and ad copy. It's particularly useful for marketers and content creators seeking to streamline their writing process.

Rytr: Aimed at content creators and marketers, Rytr helps generate blog posts, social media content, ad copy, and email copy. A supportive tool for those needing assistance with content creation across multiple platforms.

Perplexity AI: Focused on providing accurate and concise answers, Perplexity AI combines AI with search technology to find relevant information from the web and presents it in an easy-to-understand format.