Microsoft outage briefly knocks out search capabilities for ChatGPT, Copilot, and others

A widespread Microsoft outage on Thursday disrupted search functionality for several platforms, including ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, DuckDuckGo, and Ecosia. The issues, which began around 3AM ET, stemmed from problems with Bing's API, upon which these services rely.

While Microsoft's own search engine, Bing, experienced a temporary disruption, the outage had a more significant impact on third-party services. DuckDuckGo and Ecosia, both of which utilize Bing's API for search results, displayed error messages to users attempting to conduct searches.

Similarly, ChatGPT's web browsing feature, available to Plus subscribers, was rendered unusable during the outage. Users encountered error messages when trying to initiate web searches through the popular AI chatbot. Microsoft's Copilot service also fell victim, with users facing a frustrating loading loop that prevented access.

Later, services began to flicker back online. DuckDuckGo and Ecosia reported recovery around 10:30AM ET, followed shortly by OpenAI's confirmation that ChatGPT's web browsing functionality had been restored. Microsoft acknowledged the Copilot issues and broader mitigation efforts.