OpenAI’s ChatGPT Outage Disrupts Millions — Can Blockchain Offer More Security?

Key Takeaways

• ChatGPT suffered a global outage for around four hours on Wednesday, Dec. 11.
• Tech outages are on the rise, with their impact being felt globally.
• Some experts believe blockchain security could be the answer to preventing future outages.

OpenAI has apologized for a global outage of ChatGPT, Sora, and its API developer program, after users were locked out with an error message for around four hours on Wednesday, Dec. 11.

It comes after Microsoft, Verizon, and Meta all suffered major tech outages in October that affected millions of users worldwide.

As major tech outages increase in frequency, experts suggest that blockchain technology could provide security for traders as well as be a preventative solution.

Mass ChatGPT Outage

The outage, which began at around 3 p.m. PT on Wednesday on three of OpenAI’s programs, showed viewers a “currently unavailable” error message.

Taking to X after the fix, OpenAI wrote,  “ChatGPT, API, and Sora were down today but we’ve recovered.”

OpenAI’s response to the outage has led to some criticism online, with some users feeling like the company was too nonchalant with its reaction to the issue.

“API was down the entire day. You say this so casually. Do you understand that APIs are for other people’s **businesses**?,” one user wrote.

However, a member of OpenAI’s API team responded to the user, claiming that the company does not take any minute of downtime lightly.

It is still not understood what caused the outage and the member of the API team claimed they were still “investigating what happened here.”

AI Makes Finding a Solution More Critical

Over half of November’s capital venture investment was aimed at companies in the AI sector,  reaching a monthly peak of more than $14 billion, according to Crunchbase data.

Big tech’s growing reliance on AI has intensified the critical need for solutions to global service outages due to the possible far-reaching consequences across interconnected systems.

Outages in AI-driven systems have the ability to disrupt automated workflows and other services, possibly causing issues in critical infrastructure such as hospitals.

The integration of AI into big tech’s infrastructure also means that global outages are harder to diagnose and resolve quickly.

As AI increasingly becomes the backbone of global technology services, Big Tech will be looking to ensure that trust and security is at the forefront of its agenda.

Global Tech Outages

Verizon and Microsoft, as well as other companies, have also suffered widespread outages in recent months.

On Oct. 10, thousands of Microsoft  users reported issues with its Outlook, Teams, and 365 services.

The tech giant said it had “identified a potential memory management issue which may be responsible for causing impact.”

At the same time, Verizon suffered its second national outage in ten days, disrupting internet service to thousands of U.S. customers.

Verizon users across the country reported being unable to make calls and receiving no signal on their phones.

Two days prior, thousands of Instagram  users across the globe reported problems with Meta’s photo-sharing app.

The event marked Instagram’s second major outage since June, during which thousands of users were unable to access their accounts.

The outages come one year after the notorious defect update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which caused global carnage on airlines, broadcasters, hospitals, and offices worldwide.

Centralized Systems

Centralized systems, like those managed by companies such as OpenAI, Microsoft or Verizon, are controlled by a single or limited number of servers.

If these servers experience a failure, whether due to cyberattacks, technical glitches, or other unforeseen events, the entire system can go offline, leading to widespread disruptions.

In the case of the CrowdStrike outage in June 2023, an update intended to enhance the functionality of the company’s cybersecurity platform on Windows instead contained a flaw that disrupted systems globally.

The outage highlighted the significant risks third-party systems pose in a highly interconnected IT ecosystem.

Can Blockchain Offer More Security?

Traders may benefit from financial records being recorded in a public ledger without any possibility of transactions being tampered with or deleted.

Analysts at financial service provider WisdomTree Prime claim that blockchain security, due to its distributed infrastructure, could have helped prevent an outage like CrowdStrike.

Blockchain’s architecture is designed to distribute data and control across numerous independent nodes, often spread out globally.

“This means that if one node fails, others can continue to operate seamlessly,” WisdomTree analysts noted in a blog post. 

“A pertinent example of the resilience of decentralized infrastructure can be seen in the Bitcoin network. When China imposed a ban on Bitcoin mining, which forced a significant portion of the mining operations offline, the network did not collapse.”

Instead, the Bitcoin network shifted its mining operations to other countries.

“The decentralized nature of Bitcoin’s infrastructure ensured its survival and continued operation despite the ban,” the analysts added.

IBM Supports Blockchain

American multinational technology company IBM said blockchain builds trust between trading partners, resolves issues faster, and builds more resilient supply chains. “Plus, participants can act sooner in the event of disruptions,” IBM said in a blog post. 

However, Quantum expert and government consultant Tim Callan, Chief Experience Officer at Sectigo, told CCN that the blockchain can also be harnessed by bad actors.

“Blockchain relies upon so-called cryptographic codes between public and private keys,” Callan said.

“When financial transitions are involved within the blockchain, the anonymity that it creates can be abused by bad actors to more easily distribute funds.”

Nonetheless, Many organizations depend on third-party software and cloud services like CrowdStrike for critical operations, with recent incidents illustrating how a faulty update can potentially disrupt entire industries.