‘I no longer know how to work’: ChatGPT outage causes panic among some employees
On June 10-12, 2025, ChatGPT experienced a major global outage affecting millions of users worldwide, including employees who have become heavily reliant on AI tools to perform their daily work tasks. The disruption, linked to elevated error rates and latency in OpenAI’s services, lasted for nearly two days before full restoration was confirmed on June 12
The outage coincided with a broader internet disruption impacting major platforms such as Google Cloud, Cloudflare, Amazon Web Services, Spotify, and Discord, caused primarily by a Google Cloud failure. This widespread service interruption exacerbated the impact on users dependent on cloud-based AI and online tools.
During the outage, many employees reported panic and frustration, expressing that they “no longer know how to work” without access to ChatGPT. This reaction highlights the growing dependence on AI-powered assistants for tasks ranging from content creation and coding to research and communication. Social media was flooded with users humorously and anxiously sharing their struggles to perform basic work functions without AI support7.
The incident has sparked a broader conversation about the risks of over-reliance on AI technologies in professional environments. While AI tools like ChatGPT enhance productivity and creativity, the outage exposed vulnerabilities when critical workflows depend heavily on a single AI service. Organizations are now urged to develop contingency plans and diversify their toolsets to mitigate such risks in the future.
OpenAI’s engineers worked intensively to identify and resolve the root causes of the outage, which involved server-side faults and capacity overloads. Voice mode features experienced minor residual issues even after the main service was restored.
In conclusion, the ChatGPT outage of June 2025 serves as a wake-up call about the fragility of modern AI-dependent workflows. It underscores the need for balanced integration of AI tools with human skills and robust backup strategies to ensure business continuity in the face of technological disruptions.
America Latina News.com
