Major online services faced widespread downtime as a global Cloudflare failure disrupted platforms across the internet (Photo: Photo)
Cloudflare Outage: A wave of digital disruptions hit users worldwide after Cloudflare is one of the essential backbones of the modern internet, suffered from a large-scale outage. The breakdown sent ripples across social networks, AI platforms and major online services, leaving millions frustrated and perplexed as familiar apps suddenly stalled.
Cloudflare secures, routes, and protects thousands of websites, so when it goes down, the effects ripple quickly. This time around, widespread 500 errors, dashboard outages and API issues caused many services to grind to a crawl or freeze up completely.
Downdetector logged a sharp rise in complaints about ChatGPT, with early morning reports jumping far above normal levels. Instead of small, isolated glitches, the pattern showed a sudden spike that suggested trouble higher up the network chain. For many users, during peak hours, the AI tool became unreachable.
OpenAI confirmed that ChatGPT and affiliated services were experiencing outages and said the team was investigating. It didn't tie the problem to Cloudflare's issues. For the time being, users are stuck in a waiting game while the systems stabilize.
X, formerly Twitter, had a tough time, too: many users couldn't refresh their feeds, load the website or stay connected to its servers. Downdetector reflected a sharp spike in reports within the last day. The mobile app fared a bit better, though global access was spotty.
E-commerce sellers using Shopify said storefronts were loading slowly, if at all. Cloudflare powers much of Shopify's backend protection, so even relatively short interruptions can jam online payment and browsing functions.
Spotify listeners faced app crashes and audio streaming failures. Most complaints focused on the app refusing to open. By morning, reports were in the hundreds as users took to X to vent about playlists suddenly going silent.
ALSO READ: Major Internet Outage: Cloudflare Glitch Disrupts X, ChatGPT, & More; Cloudflare Explains
Disclaimer: This article is based on publicly available information and may change as service providers release new updates on the outage.
