OpenAI outage on May 4 — 48-minute disruption
May 4, 09:46 AM → May 4, 10:34 AM · 48 minutes · high
On May 4, 2026, OpenAI experienced a service disruption. This incident was detected through user reports indicating issues with the service. The disruption lasted for approximately 48 minutes, from 09:46 UTC to 10:34 UTC, before service was restored.
Impact
Users reported difficulties accessing and using OpenAI services. The primary issues reported were related to the service being slow or unresponsive, accounting for 16 of the 19 total reports during the incident. Additionally, 3 reports indicated API-related problems. No specific top impacted regions were recorded during this event.
Top reported issues
- Slow / unresponsive16
- API issues3
Incident timeline
- May 4, 09:46 AM
PulseWatch detected elevated report volume (high severity)
- May 4, 10:00 AM
Peak of 7 reports in 15 minutes (baseline 1.3)
- May 4, 10:13 AM
Status updated: major issue
- May 4, 10:23 AM
Status updated: possible issue
- May 4, 10:28 AM
Status updated: possible issue
- May 4, 10:34 AM
Report volume returned to baseline — incident resolved
Official updates
- May 4, 09:46 AM
OpenAI status page acknowledged the incident.
View official source