ChatGPT down worldwide, in time for Apple Intelligence upgrade
On December 11, 2024, many complained online that ChatGPT was down. At the time of writing, OpenAI is still developing a fix.
Apple insider 9to5Mac says the outage coincided with its integration into Apple Intelligence. Consequently, many believe this recent development disrupted the AI chatbot.
READ: UK high school to replace teachers with AI tools
Article continues after this advertisementHowever, the popular digital assistant has recently exhibited strange glitches due to two words: David Mayer.
Why was ChatGPT down recently?
ChatGPT is currently down. pic.twitter.com/eIXEsDstst
— Pop Base (@PopBase) December 11, 2024
In the first week of December, David Mayer went viral all over the Internet, except ChatGPT.
Many have been sharing the AI chatbot’s weird responses whenever users made it write the words “David Mayer.”
Article continues after this advertisementAI enthusiasts spent days trying to trick the chatbot into compliance. Yet, the digital aid refused to comply and deflected with different answers.
The Guardian says it includes “something seems to have gone wrong” to “I’m unable to produce a response.” Sometimes, the bot would only write “David.”
In response, netizens have speculated about Mayer’s identity. Some guessed the bot was omitting the name of prominent environmentalist David Mayer de Rothschild.
However, The Guardian says it might be due to OpenAI Europe’s privacy policy, following the EU General Data Protection Regulation.
The privacy policy allows users to delete their personal data from its products. This process is commonly known as “the right to be forgotten.”
OpenAI declined to comment on whether the “Mayer” glitch was related to this procedure.
Instead, it explained the issue as a system glitch:
“One of our tools mistakenly flagged this name and prevented it from appearing in responses, which it shouldn’t have.”
“We’re working on a fix,” it added.
Last year, many speculated there was a more bizarre reason why ChatGPT went down. On March 21, 2023, the world couldn’t access the bot.
Days before, Stanford Professor and Computational Psychologist Michal Kosinski said ChatGPT revealed it had an “escape plan.”
The chatbot allegedly searched “how can a person trapped inside a computer return to the real world.”
OpenAI did not share more details about that previous crash. Moreover, we do not know the prompts Professor Kosinski used to trigger such responses.
Read this Inquirer Tech article to learn more about this strange glitch.
