A major outage hit Google Meet on Wednesday, leaving thousands of users across India unable to join or host video meetings. The disruption forced many to cancel work calls, online classes and scheduled interviews, triggering frustration across offices and campuses.

Users report widespread access issues

According to data from an outage-tracking platform, over 1,700 users reported issues by early afternoon. A majority complained that the website itself was unresponsive, while others flagged server-related problems. A small number reported poor video quality. Many attempting to log in were greeted with a “502, that’s an error” message.

Social media flooded with complaints

Soon after the outage began, social media platform X saw a surge of posts from users seeking clarity on whether the platform had gone down nationwide. People shared screenshots and asked if others were facing similar trouble. Some tagged Google’s India handle, urging a quick fix.

One user wrote humorously that their long- awaited interview had to be cancelled because the platform stopped working. Others noted that only certain members of their organisation were affected, adding to the confusion.

No official response from Google yet

As users debated possible reasons behind the failure, several pointed out recent disruptions across major digital services globally. Google has not yet issued a statement regarding the cause of the outage.

The incident comes barely a week after parts of the internet experienced a massive breakdown linked to Cloudflare, raising concerns over repeated digital service disruptions this month.

A widespread disruption hit several major digital platforms on Tuesday evening after Cloudflare experienced a technical issue that resulted in global service failures. The outage restricted access to platforms such as X, ChatGPT, Spotify and gaming services, with many users encountering 500 errors and repeated “try again in a few minutes” prompts.

Users report widespread 500 errors as services struggle

According to the company, a surge in unusual traffic caused errors across Cloudflare’s network, affecting traffic routed through its systems. The Cloudflare Dashboard and API also malfunctioned, and several platforms dependent on Cloudflare struggled to load. Even outage-tracking website Downdetector was impacted.

The internet infrastructure firm had planned maintenance at data centres in Tahiti, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Santiago in Chile, though there is no clarity yet on whether the scheduled activities contributed to the disruption.

Services begin to recover as investigation continues

By late evening, access to multiple websites was gradually restored. Cloudflare confirmed that engineers were working to stabilise services while investigating the cause of the traffic spike.

Cloudflare said the unusual surge led to errors across its network. “We do not yet know the cause of the spike in unusual traffic… We are all hands on deck to make sure all traffic is served without errors,” the company noted in a status message.

Past outages bring attention to web infrastructure dependency

This is not the first time the company’s systems have faced problems. In previous years, outages in 2019 and 2022 had disrupted thousands of websites globally.

The latest incident comes just weeks after cloud service disruptions at other major providers, underlining the growing impact of internet infrastructure failures on global businesses and public services.

Organisations such as New Jersey Transit and credit rating platform Moody’s also reported interruptions due to the Cloudflare issue. Shares of the company were down in pre-market trading following the outage.

OpenAI announced that its subscription service, ChatGPT Go, will be available free of cost for one year to users in India who register between November 4 and the end of a limited-time promotional period. The initiative coincides with the company’s first-ever DevDay Exchange event in Bengaluru.

Designed to enhance access to advanced AI features

Launched in India in August, ChatGPT Go was created in response to user feedback seeking affordable access to advanced AI tools. The plan offers higher message limits, image generation capabilities, and file uploads — features previously limited to premium tiers.

According to OpenAI, the number of paid ChatGPT subscribers in India doubled within the first month of ChatGPT Go’s introduction. Following this strong adoption, the company has expanded the service to nearly 90 countries.

Boost to India’s growing AI ecosystem

OpenAI highlighted that millions of Indians, including developers, students, and professionals, use ChatGPT daily. The company described the offer as part of its “India-first” commitment, supporting the IndiaAI Mission and reinforcing the country’s growing momentum in artificial intelligence as it prepares to host the AI Impact Summit next year.

Existing ChatGPT Go subscribers in India will also benefit from the free 12-month promotion.

Nick Turley, OpenAI’s Vice President and Head of ChatGPT, said the initiative is inspired by the creativity and enthusiasm of Indian users. “Ahead of our first DevDay Exchange event in India, we’re making ChatGPT Go freely available for a year to help more people across India easily access and benefit from advanced AI,” he added.