OpenAI is monitoring an incident that caused elevated errors for image generation in ChatGPT and the Images API. The company’s status page says a mitigation has been applied, but some requests may still fail. MacRumors separately reported problems affecting image and file features, making the incident relevant to both regular ChatGPT users and developers using OpenAI services.

OpenAI listed image generation and ChatGPT among the affected components. The status history shows the incident moved from investigation to an identified issue and then to monitoring after mitigation work. That wording does not mean every user will see a complete outage. OpenAI notes that availability can vary by subscription tier, model and feature, so one account may work while another still returns an error.

For people trying to create an image, the immediate symptom can be a failed request or a response that does not complete. Developers using the Images API may see similar failures in applications that depend on generated images. OpenAI has not stated in the status update that user prompts or stored conversations were lost.

File handling was also part of the wider disruption reported by MacRumors. The status history recorded file uploads as delayed or failing during the same period. This creates a practical problem for users who need to attach a document before asking ChatGPT to analyze it. Waiting and trying again later is safer than repeatedly submitting the same request, especially when an app may retry automatically.

The official status page remains the best place to check progress because the incident state can change without a new app release. OpenAI’s current update says it is monitoring recovery, not that the incident has been fully resolved. Users who still see errors should check the status page, confirm that their connection is stable, and avoid assuming that an isolated failure means their account is permanently affected.

The episode also shows why AI applications need clear service-status reporting. Image generation is often treated as a separate feature from text chat, yet it depends on its own processing systems. A status page that names the affected component gives users and developers a more accurate explanation than a generic “something went wrong” message.

Sources: MacRumors report https://www.macrumors.com/2026/09/08/chatgpt-down-for-images-files/ and OpenAI Status incident https://status.openai.com/incidents/82v9qavc.