A major Microsoft outage has disrupted core services, including email and artificial intelligence (AI) software, impacting millions of people across the globe. Microsoft 365 services, including Teams, Outlook, and the AI assistant Copilot, have been hit by connectivity issues and are awaiting a fix. More than 430 million people use Microsoft 365 apps, and over 90% of Fortune 500 companies use its Copilot AI chatbot, according to Microsoft’s website. The outage monitoring website Downdetector reported roughly 140,000 user complaints across 74 countries, with the true number of affected users likely much higher. In a statement, Microsoft originally said it was investigating outage reports “in the Americas,” but later confirmed the issue had affected users “in any region.” Microsoft ruled out a cybersecurity incident, instead attributing the outage to an “elevated load” on its services. However, the company stated that it had tried several solutions to resolve the issue with limited success, noting that “change is not taking as expected.” In the US, local and city offices have told residents to call instead of emailing if they need to get in touch, while the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has warned of delays to prescriptions. Global banks, including Standard Chartered Singapore, have warned that cybercriminals may use the outage as an opportunity to scam individuals and businesses.
