Microsoft apologizes for global outage that disrupted Outlook, Teams, and Copilot

Microsoft attributed a global outage that disrupted electronic communications for nearly 24 hours to a technical issue, not a cyberattack or AI malfunction, and issued an apology. The company stated the problem stemmed from a prior network capacity upgrade and a recent technical change, which has been addressed. The outage primarily affected Outlook, Teams, and the Copilot AI assistant, leaving millions without email and meetings. Downdetector recorded over 7.4 million problem reports, with insured losses estimated between $300 and $500 million, forcing some businesses to revert to fax machines. The incident impacted Britain's NHS, London's Metropolitan Police, Australian intelligence services, and financial firms in Taiwan. It has reignited concerns about global dependence on a few tech giants, while sparking a wave of internet memes, some referencing the Nvidia scandal.