Microsoft outage disrupts US companies, schools, and local governments

A Microsoft Outlook outage disrupted companies, schools, and local governments across the US, leaving some services unavailable even as email operations began recovering Friday morning. The disruption started around 1pm ET Thursday. Local officials in Miami, Maryland, and Los Angeles warned residents of ongoing staff and service gaps. In Colorado, a jail halted online bond payments, while Texas emergency services requested phone calls. School districts in Virginia and New York reported outages, and congressional staffers faced disruptions during legislative negotiations. Microsoft reported no sign of malicious activity, citing improvements but noting intermittent access issues. The outage also affected AI platforms Claude and OpenAI, and forced Workhorse Group to reschedule its earnings call.