Editorial illustration for Cloudflare Outage Disrupts X, ChatGPT, and Downdetector; Company Working on Fix
Cloudflare Outage Disrupts X, ChatGPT, Downdetector Services
Massive Cloudflare outage hits X, ChatGPT and Downdetector; fix in progress
A major internet disruption swept across popular online services this morning, leaving users of X, ChatGPT, and Downdetector scrambling as Cloudflare grappled with a significant technical issue. The widespread outage began early Wednesday, impacting multiple high-profile platforms that rely on Cloudflare's critical web infrastructure.
Something unusual was brewing in Cloudflare's network. The company detected an unexpected traffic surge that quickly cascaded into service interruptions affecting millions of users worldwide.
Websites and platforms suddenly went dark or became sluggish, signaling a potentially serious technical problem. Cloudflare's engineering teams were immediately mobilized to investigate and resolve the incident.
The company's response suggested the issue was complex and not immediately resolvable. Users reported sporadic access and connection problems across multiple services, heightening tension as businesses and individuals waited for a resolution.
As the morning progressed, Cloudflare's technical teams worked urgently to understand and mitigate the traffic anomaly. Their next steps would be critical in restoring normal operations for affected platforms.
On Cloudflare's status page, the most recent update from the company at 9:22AM ET says, "We are continuing to work on a fix for this issue." In a statement to The Verge, Cloudflare spokesperson Jackie Dutton says the company noticed a "spike in unusual traffic" to one of its services starting at 6:20AM ET, causing "some traffic passing through Cloudflare's network to experience errors." Dutton adds, "We do not yet know the cause of the spike in unusual traffic. We are all hands on deck to make sure all traffic is served without errors." The company is also planning to investigate the cause of the unusual spike in traffic. Other online services, including Indeed, Grindr, Uber, Canva, Spotify, NJ Transit, League of Legends, and Archive of Our Own, experienced issues during the outage, while digital outlets like Axios, The Information, and Politico also went down.
The Cloudflare outage comes less than a month after a huge Amazon Web Services crash took down Fortnite, Alexa, Snapchat, and other services, which was followed by issues at Microsoft Azure that brought Xbox offline for hours. Developing… Most Popular - I looked into CoreWeave and the abyss gazed back - A massive Cloudflare outage is affecting X, ChatGPT, and even Downdetector - Google is collecting troves of data from downgraded Nest thermostats - MSI's $380 QD-OLED gaming monitor is one of 2025's best deals so far - Bose's noise-canceling QuietComfort Headphones are more than 50 percent off
The Cloudflare outage highlights how deeply interconnected modern web infrastructure has become. Major platforms like X and ChatGPT suddenly found themselves vulnerable when one critical network service experienced unexpected traffic issues.
Cloudflare's ongoing investigation reveals little about the root cause. The company acknowledges a mysterious "spike in unusual traffic" starting at 6:20AM ET, but hasn't pinpointed what triggered the disruption.
Users experienced widespread errors as services routed through Cloudflare's network struggled to maintain normal operations. The company's engineering team is currently working to resolve the problem, with their latest status update promising continued efforts to build a fix.
What's striking is how quickly a single network hiccup can cascade across multiple popular platforms. This incident underscores the fragility of our interconnected digital ecosystem, where one technical glitch can ripple through numerous services almost instantaneously.
For now, Cloudflare remains focused on stabilizing its network and understanding what caused the unexpected traffic surge. The full story behind this outage is still unfolding.
Further Reading
- Cloudflare outage easing after impacting thousands of ... - TBS News
- When Cloudflare sneezes, the Internet catches a cold - Techpoint Africa
- Cloudflare outage: Major tech glitches in recent years - The Straits Times
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Common Questions Answered
Which major online services were impacted by the Cloudflare outage?
The Cloudflare outage disrupted several high-profile platforms including X, ChatGPT, and Downdetector. These services experienced significant service interruptions due to unexpected traffic issues in Cloudflare's network infrastructure.
At what time did Cloudflare first notice the unusual traffic spike?
According to Cloudflare spokesperson Jackie Dutton, the company first detected an unusual traffic spike at 6:20AM ET on Wednesday morning. The traffic anomaly quickly cascaded into service interruptions across multiple platforms.
What did Cloudflare say about the cause of the network disruption?
Cloudflare has stated that they do not yet know the precise cause of the traffic spike that led to the outage. The company is currently investigating the incident and working diligently to resolve the technical issues affecting their network.