Microsoft restores services after global outage affecting 70 countries

Microsoft says its services are fully restored after a global outage lasting hours, affecting Microsoft 365 apps including Outlook, Teams, and Copilot across over 70 countries. The outage, which began midday Thursday U.S. time, disrupted governments, courts, healthcare, airlines, and banks in places like Japan, Singapore, and Australia. Microsoft apologized Friday, stating the issue stemmed from a network capacity upgrade, not a cyberattack or AI agents. Downdetector logged reports from 74 countries within an hour, though total affected users remain unclear. The incident highlights risks of overreliance on one provider, with some lawmakers citing dependence on American tech and experts urging more resilient IT ecosystems.