ChatGPT outage: Users in UAE and India experience 'unusual activity'

82 per cent of users experienced problems and issues with popular AI tool earlier today

Last updated: July 16, 2025 | 06:05

Manjusha Radhakrishnan, Entertainment Editor

1 MIN READ

ChatGPT

AFP

Dubai: Users of the widely-used Open AI chatbot tool ChatGPT, woke up to significant issues with the website early July 16th morning.

Messages like 'failing to upload chat history' and taking longer than usual time to load commands were observed by users.

According to Downdetector, which tracks website outages, claimed 82 per cent of people experienced an outage globally.

Users attempting to access it were also met with a message reading "unable to load projects'.

OpenAI on its official status page acknowledged the problem, stating: 'We're currently experiencing issues. Elevated Error Rates on ChatGPT record mode, Sora and Codex. We have identified that users are experiencing elevated errors for the impacted services."

The message also said: 'We are working on implementing a mitigation'. Translation? They are working making our lives smoother. So, don't panic.

As of 5:50am, the company's update claims the problem has been identified.

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Manjusha RadhakrishnanEntertainment Editor

Manjusha Radhakrishnan has been slaying entertainment news and celebrity interviews in Dubai for 18 years—and she’s just getting started. As Entertainment Editor, she covers Bollywood movie reviews, Hollywood scoops, Pakistani dramas, and world cinema. Red carpets? She’s walked them all—Europe, North America, Macau—covering IIFA (Bollywood Oscars) and Zee Cine Awards like a pro. She’s been on CNN with Becky Anderson dropping Bollywood truth bombs like Salman Khan Black Buck hunting conviction and hosted panels with directors like Bollywood’s Kabir Khan and Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh. She has also covered film festivals around the globe. Oh, and did we mention she landed the cover of Xpedition Magazine as one of the UAE’s 50 most influential icons? She was also the resident Bollywood guru on Dubai TV’s Insider Arabia and Saudi TV, where she dishes out the latest scoop and celebrity news. Her interview roster reads like a dream guest list—Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Shah Rukh Khan, Robbie Williams, Sean Penn, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Joaquin Phoenix, and Morgan Freeman. From breaking celeb news to making stars spill secrets, Manjusha doesn’t just cover entertainment—she owns it while looking like a star herself.