OPENAI logo seen on smartphone hold in a hand and laptop display with MICROSOFT logo on the background. Shutterstock/ Ascannio

OpenAI is currently contending with an ‘abnormal’ surge in traffic that points to potential hacking attempts aiming to overwhelm its services, the company said in a status update.

This revelation sheds light on the probable cause behind the recent outages that have affected ChatGPT throughout the week.

The startup, supported by Microsoft and renowned for catalysing global developments in generative AI, disclosed that it has detected indications of a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Premium Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Related Company Profiles

View all

A DDoS attack involves external actors attempting to overload a platform by bombarding it with repeated requests.

In its latest system update, OpenAI acknowledged the existence of periodic outages due to an abnormal traffic patterns consistent with a DDoS attack.

The company said it is actively working on mitigating the situation.

The development follows what OpenAI described as a “major outage” impacting its flagship chatbot.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

Although the company claims to have resolved the issue that led to unusually high error rates across its software and AI platform, the exact extent of the impact remains to be seen.

OpenAI, which recently held its inaugural developer conference, introduced a preview version of GPT-4 Turbo—a more potent and faster iteration of its latest large language model, the foundational technology behind ChatGPT.

ChatGPT’s November 2023 launch triggered a global surge of interest in AI, with approximately 100 million users engaging with it weekly.

Moreover, over 90% of Fortune 500 businesses are actively developing tools on OpenAI’s platform.

Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from well-funded AI startups, tech giants, and even from Elon Musk, an early supporter of OpenAI who has now ventured into developing rival AI products.