Washington: The world’s largest cloud computing company, Amazon Web Services (AWS), experienced a massive technical outage that caused hundreds of websites and online platforms across the globe to crash suddenly.

According to international media reports, the disruption originated from an internal fault in AWS’s network load balancing system, which helps manage online traffic for thousands of digital services.

The glitch had a widespread impact, bringing down popular global platforms including ChatGPT, Snapchat, Zoom, Roblox, Signal, and Duolingo. Many users around the world were unable to access these services for several hours.

Data from Down Detector, a website that tracks online outages, showed that more than 1,000 companies were affected. Millions of users across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and several other countries reported connectivity issues and service disruptions.

Tech analysts have described the outage as one of the most severe technical breakdowns in AWS history, underlining the global dependence on Amazon’s cloud infrastructure.

Amazon later confirmed that the core issue has been identified and fixed, though some services are still facing minor interruptions. The company stated that restoration efforts are ongoing and technical teams are working continuously to ensure complete recovery.