Sudden ChatGPT Outage... Foreign Media Speculate "Internal Confusion"

by Lim Juhyeong

Published 22 Nov.2023 10:28(KST)

Former CEO Sam Altman Joins MS AI Lab
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As of 10:11 AM on the 22nd, OpenAI's generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot service 'ChatGPT' is unavailable. Some speculate that this may be related to the internal turmoil following the confirmed resignation of former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

When accessing the API version ChatGPT-3.5 service on this day, only the message "ChatGPT has reached its limit" is displayed. The ChatGPT access outage appears to have started from the morning of this day.

Message displayed when accessing ChatGPT. [Image source=ChatGPT]

OpenAI confirmed the issue with ChatGPT through its official website, stating that "unfinished API endpoints are also affected." They also mentioned that they are currently working on fixes.

Some foreign media have linked this service outage to internal chaos at OpenAI. The U.S. media outlet 'Business Insider' reported on the day, "Amid unfolding turmoil at OpenAI, ChatGPT experienced a widespread outage," adding, "Throughout last week, OpenAI went through a stormy weekend after the dismissal of former CEO Sam Altman."

However, ChatGPT occasionally experiences service downtime irregularly. This is reportedly a common occurrence when OpenAI updates new features to its AI models. Earlier this month, the service was temporarily interrupted due to a DDoS attack on the internal system.

Meanwhile, Sam Altman, who was recently dismissed by OpenAI's board, decided to lead Microsoft's AI research division instead of returning to OpenAI.

It is reported that this has caused various internal conflicts. In particular, the majority of OpenAI employees issued a statement saying, "If Sam Altman does not return, we will leave for Microsoft." The number of signatories to this statement is 700 out of a total of 770 employees.