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Users across web, mobile and desktop platforms reported widespread disruptions to ChatGPT, Claude and Grok around the same time. xAI confirmed Grok was experiencing a service issue, while OpenAI and Anthropic had not yet detailed the cause of their outages.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pushed back on claims that ChatGPT usage consumes excessive water, comparing it to a viral claim that a single query uses as much water as running a shower for six hours. Speaking on the Sources Podcast, he said 38,000 queries equate to the water needed to grow one almond in California, and argued modern data centers no longer rely on evaporative cooling, instead using water similar to an office building.
OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude, Google's Gemini and X's Grok all experienced service disruptions at the same time on Thursday morning. OpenAI said it applied a mitigation and was monitoring recovery, while Anthropic reported issues limited to its Opus 4.8 and Opus 5 models. Downdetector data suggested OpenAI's problems were largely resolved as other services, including Google and Fortnite, continued to face issues.
OpenAI's ChatGPT, xAI's Grok, and Anthropic's Claude all began experiencing service disruptions within roughly a two-hour window on the same day. Users reported errors with chatbot conversations, logins, file uploads, voice mode, and other features, while Anthropic attributed its partial outage to an infrastructure issue and xAI said it was working to restore service. None of the companies have confirmed whether the outages are connected.
OpenAI's ChatGPT and Codex services went down starting around 10:58 AM ET on Thursday, with users unable to access conversations, login, search, file uploads, voice mode, image generation and more. OpenAI confirmed on its status page that it is investigating elevated errors affecting at least 15 components, including ChatGPT Work, Deep Research, Agent, Atlas, and Connectors/Apps.
Despite rapid advances in AI for knowledge work like chatbots, physical AI embodied in humanoid robots remains largely confined to test labs and curated demo videos rather than real-world deployment. Unlike ChatGPT, there is no widely accessible robot product, and demo footage is often edited or cherry-picked, making it hard to gauge true progress. Even public showcases like the World Humanoid Robot Games reveal a mix of impressive feats and notable failures.
The Trump administration filed a statement of interest in New York federal court supporting OpenAI's argument that training AI models on copyrighted news content qualifies as fair use. The filing addresses lawsuits brought by The New York Times and Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, which accuse OpenAI of infringing their copyrighted material to build ChatGPT.
The Trump administration filed a 20-page brief supporting OpenAI in its copyright dispute with The New York Times, arguing that training large language models on copyrighted material qualifies as fair use. The filing cites an executive order calling for the US to maintain global leadership in artificial intelligence, and warns that restricting AI training practices could harm American innovation and economic competitiveness.
An independent developer ran a three-week ChatGPT ad campaign for event-seating software PerfectTablePlan, spending £289.52 for 2,988 clicks at an average 10p per click. The campaign yielded just 14 installs, a 0.46% conversion rate and a 69% bounce rate, versus roughly 5% conversion and under half the bounce rate on Google Ads and organic ChatGPT referrals. Working with ad-fraud researcher Dr Augustine Fou, the developer used analytics tooling to rule out bot traffic, pointing instead to poor targeting as the likely cause of the weak results.
Adobe has acquired Rilo, a Bengaluru-based marketing intelligence startup, through a licensing and team-acquisition deal, folding in its six-member team and technology. Founded in 2025 by IIT graduates Georgi Boby and Dhruv Jaglan, Rilo had raised $1 million at a $10 million valuation from backers including PeakXV and Day Zero Ventures before this exit. The startup's product will be shut down and its custom workflow-building tools absorbed into Adobe's offerings.
An Entrepreneur contributor argues that AI, despite its ability to analyze emotion and language, cannot truly feel, sense danger in a room, or trust someone instinctively the way humans do. The piece contends AI's real value lies in handling information, research and execution while humans supply instinct, purpose and irrational confidence.
Law firm Edelson PC is submitting 30 additional lawsuits in a California court against OpenAI, expanding on seven earlier complaints tied to the February school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. The new plaintiffs include teachers, a principal, and students present during the attack, and for the first time the filings allege OpenAI aided and abetted the shooting rather than merely failing to prevent it.