ChatGPT possible degradation on May 26, 2026 — 37 hours 49 minutes incident report
ChatGPT appeared to experience possible degradation for 37 hours 49 minutes on May 26, 2026.
Incident facts
| Service | ChatGPT |
|---|---|
| Started | May 26, 2026 at 17:10 UTC |
| Resolved | May 28, 2026 at 07:00 UTC |
| Total duration | 37 hours 49 minutes |
| Peak severity | Possible Degradation |
| Detection | Official OpenAI status feed |
Timeline
- Possible issue detected
- Confirmed by re-check
- Service responding normally
What happened
On May 26, 2026, ChatGPT appeared to experience possible degradation lasting 37 hours 49 minutes, according to our automated monitoring. The incident was first detected by Are The Bots Down's monitoring system at May 26, 2026 at 17:10 UTC and our checks resumed normal results at May 28, 2026 at 07:00 UTC. OpenAI's public status feed reported the issue during this window. 228 status observations were recorded across the lifetime of this incident.
What to do when ChatGPT appears to be having issues
Most detected ChatGPT issues resolve within 15 minutes. While you wait, the API often stays available even when the consumer chat is having problems — check status.openai.com for the official picture, but expect that page to lag the actual incident by 20 to 40 minutes.
Most users find it faster to switch tools than to wait. The closest alternatives to ChatGPT for the same workflows are Claude or Gemini.