ChatGPT possible degradation on Sep 13, 2026 — 50 minutes incident report
ChatGPT appeared to experience possible degradation for 50 minutes on Sep 13, 2026.
Incident facts
| Service | ChatGPT |
|---|---|
| Started | Sep 13, 2026 at 17:00 UTC |
| Resolved | Sep 13, 2026 at 17:50 UTC |
| Total duration | 50 minutes |
| Peak severity | Possible Degradation |
| Detection | Official OpenAI status feed |
Timeline
- Possible issue detected
- Confirmed by re-check
- Service responding normally
What happened
On Sep 13, 2026, ChatGPT appeared to experience possible degradation lasting 50 minutes, according to our automated monitoring. The incident was first detected by Are The Bots Down's monitoring system at Sep 13, 2026 at 17:00 UTC and our checks resumed normal results at Sep 13, 2026 at 17:50 UTC. OpenAI's public status feed reported the issue during this window. 6 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.