A significant outage at Microsoft has caused widespread disruptions across several major search platforms, including Copilot, DuckDuckGo, and ChatGPT. The issues, which began around 3 AM ET, have been traced back to the Bing application programming interface (API), upon which these services rely for their search functionalities.
The outage has rendered search capabilities for ChatGPT, Copilot, and DuckDuckGo either completely unavailable or only intermittently responsive. Initially, Microsoft's own search engine, Bing, was also affected. However, as of now, Bing appears to be correctly loading search results, according to reports from TechCrunch.
DuckDuckGo and Ecosia, both of which utilize Bing's API, have been unable to load search results. Similarly, Microsoft's Copilot service is experiencing issues, with users encountering a loading loop that prevents access. ChatGPT Plus subscribers, who have the option to perform web searches, are seeing error messages when attempting to make search inquiries.
Microsoft has acknowledged the issues with its Copilot service, stating that it is "working to isolate the cause of the issue." However, Microsoft's service health platform does not currently flag any other service outages. Both OpenAI and Ecosia have confirmed disruptions on their platforms and are investigating the root cause.
Reports from users and testing indicate that attempting to access Bing.com results in either a blank page or a page displaying a 429 HTTP code error. Despite this, Bing search still functions if accessed directly through specific URLs. The homepage outage appears isolated to certain parts of the Bing service, while the core search functionality remains operational.
In response to the outage, OpenAI posted an update on its support page confirming issues with ChatGPT's internet search capabilities. Users attempting to use DuckDuckGo are met with an error message stating, "There was an error displaying the search results. Please try again."
This disruption primarily impacted users in Asia and Europe, according to initial reports. Microsoft's Copilot services, whether accessed via the web, mobile app, or within Windows, have been offline throughout the duration of the outage.
In an official post on X, Microsoft confirmed the problem with Copilot, stating, "We're working to isolate the cause of the issue. More information can be found in the admin center under CP795190."
By late morning, reports indicated that Microsoft services were beginning to come back online. Users of Copilot, DuckDuckGo, and ChatGPT reported intermittent restoration of service. However, full functionality across all affected platforms may take additional time as engineers continue to address the underlying issues.
