ChatGPT Outage Disrupts API Jobs and File Uploads

OpenAI experienced a significant outage affecting ChatGPT APIs and file upload capabilities on November 15, 2025, impacting users' ability to process batch jobs and upload documents to conversations for at least 30 minutes.

The technical disruption struck two key components of OpenAI's infrastructure simultaneously, preventing developers from completing API workflows and limiting functionality for standard ChatGPT users attempting to share files within the platform.

Service disruptions identified

The outage manifested in two distinct technical problems affecting different aspects of OpenAI's ecosystem. According to OpenAI's status updates, the issues began around 3:54 PM when the company first detected the problems.

"Subset of Batch API jobs stuck in finalizing state," OpenAI reported regarding the API disruption. This error prevented developers from completing processing tasks using the platform's batch capabilities, essentially leaving jobs stuck in an incomplete status.

The second issue involved file uploads, with OpenAI explaining: "File uploads to ChatGPT conversations are failing for some users, giving an error message indicating the file has expired." This problem directly impacted everyday users attempting to analyze documents or share files with the AI assistant.

By 8:55 PM, OpenAI confirmed that file upload functionality had been restored, though the status of the API issues remained unclear in the initial reporting.

Impact on developers and businesses

The disruption created significant challenges for developers and companies relying on OpenAI's infrastructure for their AI-powered applications. For organizations integrating ChatGPT capabilities through APIs, the outage potentially caused workflow bottlenecks and service delays.

The timing of the outage—occurring on a Friday afternoon—could have complicated matters for businesses needing to complete week-end tasks or prepare for weekend operations. Similar to other major tech disruptions in recent years, technical failures in widely-used AI services can cascade through connected systems and workflows, creating a domino effect across dependent applications.

Roger Montti, owner of Martinibuster.com and an experienced SEO professional with 25 years in the field, documented the outage. The duration of approximately 30 minutes may seem brief, but for time-sensitive applications or businesses processing large batches of data, even short disruptions can cause significant operational impacts.

This incident highlights the importance of maintaining robust business continuity plans when relying on third-party AI services for critical operations.

How users can respond to AI service outages

When facing AI service disruptions like the ChatGPT outage, users can take several practical steps to minimize impact:

• Implement redundancy plans by having alternative AI providers or fallback systems ready to deploy
• Monitor service status pages regularly during outages for real-time updates
• Document affected workflows to help identify business processes most vulnerable to AI disruptions
• Consider building in API retry mechanisms that can automatically attempt reconnection when services become available

The growing dependence on AI services like ChatGPT for business operations highlights the importance of contingency planning. As organizations increasingly integrate these technologies into critical workflows, understanding how to navigate service disruptions becomes essential.

Service reliability will likely become a competitive differentiator among AI providers as enterprise adoption continues to accelerate. The transparency demonstrated by OpenAI in promptly acknowledging and documenting the issue represents an important practice in maintaining user trust during technical difficulties.

Developing resilience strategies

Organizations heavily dependent on AI services should consider developing comprehensive resilience strategies. These might include:

• Distributed AI processing across multiple providers to prevent single points of failure
• Implementation of local, offline AI capabilities for mission-critical functions
• Automated monitoring systems that can detect outages before they impact end-users
• Clear communication protocols for notifying stakeholders during service disruptions

Ultimately, this outage serves as a reminder that even the most sophisticated AI systems rely on complex technical infrastructure that can occasionally face disruptions, reinforcing the need for businesses to develop resilience strategies for AI-dependent operations.

Technical considerations for API users

For developers specifically working with ChatGPT's API infrastructure, this outage underscores the importance of implementing robust error handling and fallback mechanisms. When batch processing jobs become stuck, applications should be designed to gracefully handle these failures without cascading errors through the entire system.

Implementing exponential backoff retry strategies and circuit breakers in API integrations can help mitigate the impact of temporary service disruptions, ensuring that applications remain responsive even when external services experience technical difficulties.