OpenAI outage on May 3 — 1h 33m disruption
May 3, 10:01 PM → May 3, 11:34 PM · 1h 33m · high
Users experienced issues with OpenAI services, primarily reporting slow or unresponsive behavior. This outage was detected through user reports and began on May 3, 2026, at 22:01 UTC. Services were fully restored by 23:34 UTC.
Impact
During the incident, users primarily reported experiencing slow or unresponsive behavior when interacting with OpenAI services. A total of 48 user reports were received, with a peak of 18 reports within a 15-minute period. These reports consistently indicated performance degradation across the service. No specific regional impact was identified or reported during the outage. The issues were widespread, affecting general service responsiveness.
Top reported issues
- Slow / unresponsive48
Incident timeline
- May 3, 10:01 PM
PulseWatch detected elevated report volume (high severity)
- May 3, 10:15 PM
Peak of 8 reports in 15 minutes (baseline 1.3)
- May 3, 10:33 PM
Status updated: possible issue
- May 3, 10:38 PM
Status updated: major issue
- May 3, 10:43 PM
Status updated: major issue
- May 3, 10:53 PM
Status updated: major issue
- May 3, 10:58 PM
Status updated: major issue
- May 3, 11:03 PM
Status updated: possible issue
- May 3, 11:08 PM
Status updated: major issue
- May 3, 11:13 PM
Status updated: major issue
- May 3, 11:23 PM
Status updated: possible issue
- May 3, 11:28 PM
Status updated: possible issue
- May 3, 11:34 PM
Report volume returned to baseline — incident resolved
Official updates
- May 3, 10:01 PM
OpenAI status page acknowledged the incident.
View official source