ChatGPT Down Users Eye Gemini During Major Outage

(Image credit: Jay Bonggolto / Android Central)

Update [June 10, 2:45 pm]: ChatGPT appears to be gradually returning to service for most users following a 12-hour outage, as indicated by a decrease in reports on DownDetector. However, OpenAI's status page notes, "We are still monitoring the fix and we are working towards full recovery."

Key Takeaways from the ChatGPT Outage

• ChatGPT is facing a major global outage, preventing users from accessing the AI chatbot.
• The service disruption reportedly began around 2 am ET and is still affecting users, with error messages appearing during query attempts.
• OpenAI has acknowledged the outage and is actively working on a solution.
• Many ChatGPT users are exploring alternative AI tools like Google's Gemini, Grok, and Perplexity AI.

OpenAI's popular AI assistant, ChatGPT, is currently grappling with a significant service outage that started early this morning. Reports on DownDetector began to surface around 2:20 am ET, with a notable spike in outage reports occurring around 5:30 am ET in the U.S.

The disruption to the AI chatbot has persisted, affecting users across Europe, North America, and Australia who are encountering difficulties accessing ChatGPT.

This outage affects both free and paid subscription tiers of ChatGPT. Users are reporting encountering error messages when attempting to use the service, or finding that ChatGPT fails to load entirely.

Users have taken to social media to discuss the outage. For instance, one user on X (formerly Twitter) mused: "So, how many people were asking ChatGPT the most existential questions, and then the whole system crashed? Maybe we all asked the same question, and the system did not want to reply. What do you think? #ChatGPTdown" (as noted on June 10, 2025).

OpenAI's Response and Recovery Efforts

OpenAI officially acknowledged the outage on X (formerly Twitter), stating they have identified the root cause and are working diligently to resolve the issue. For the latest updates, users can refer to OpenAI's status page, which currently indicates: "We are continuing to work on implementing the mitigation, and we are now seeing recovery on API. Full recovery across all listed services may take another few hours. We will continue to provide updates as progress is made."

Users Explore AI Alternatives

Predictably, significant platform outages often lead users to seek alternatives. Many ChatGPT users have shared on X that they are turning to other AI tools such as Google's Gemini, Grok, and Perplexity AI, all of which appear to be operating normally.

(Image credit: Brady Snyder / Android Central)

Google Gemini: A Leading Alternative

Google's Gemini is positioned as a strong alternative to OpenAI's ChatGPT, capable of performing similar tasks. Gemini offers real-time information by directly sourcing answers from Google Search. The large language model (LLM) can summarize extensive texts, generate ideas for various projects, and provides multimodal capabilities through Gemini Live, enabling users to interact with Gemini conversationally on the go using voice and visual inputs for customized responses.

The latest versions, Gemini 2.5 Pro and Flash, are designed to handle complex problems, analyze data for insights and visualizations, and engage in multi-step planning. Furthermore, Gemini's integration into Google's suite of products, including Gmail, Docs, and Sheets, serves to enhance overall productivity.