ChatGPT down: Likely affected by global Cloudflare outage

Real-time multimodal reasoning Modern chatbots can analyse images, videos, tables, PDFs, and text simultaneously within the same conversation. This shift means users can upload a screenshot, share a document, or provide a video clip and receive instant interpretation. It has changed how people seek help with troubleshooting, research, content verification, and data analysis. The assistant is no longer limited to text and can operate across formats at once.

ChatGPT is currently down for many users, with a sudden spike in outage reports indicating a widespread disruption. Downdetector data shows that complaints began rising sharply on November 18, with reports jumping from baseline levels to more than 250 at peak. The outage aligns with a larger, ongoing Cloudflare incident that has affected several major platforms, suggesting that ChatGPT’s downtime may be linked to broader network instability.

Most of the outage reports point specifically to ChatGPT not loading or failing mid-session. According to the breakdown on Downdetector, 90 per cent of users are reporting issues directly with ChatGPT. This includes blank screens, failure to generate responses, session errors, and sudden disconnections.

Around 8 per cent of users are unable to access the OpenAI website, which is returning error pages or failing to load entirely. Another 3 per cent are facing app-related issues, mainly involving failed logins or repeated error prompts.

The pattern shows that the disruptions are not isolated to one platform but are affecting ChatGPT’s core functionality across web and mobile. The incident began with smaller spikes early in the morning before escalating rapidly, matching the timing of Cloudflare’s larger outage.

At around 3:34 AM, the platform recorded 38 reports against a baseline of 15. The chart shows steep spikes throughout the day, indicating repeated periods of instability. The outage curve reflects a sudden spike typical of upstream network failures rather than isolated platform bugs.

OpenAI has not released a statement about the outage or confirmed Cloudflare as the cause. With Cloudflare services still fluctuating, users may continue to experience issues until the network stabilises.