NEWS / Technology

Major Internet Outage Knocks X, Shopify, ChatGPT Offline Tuesday Morning

Published Nov 18, 2025

Share:

Summary:

Cloudflare suffered an outage Tuesday that knocked major sites including X, ChatGPT, Shopify, and Truth Social offline for several hours
The company identified a configuration file that "grew beyond an expected size" as the root cause, saying there's no evidence of an attack
Cloudflare provides services to about 20% of the web, with shares falling more than 2% on the news

The Outage

Cloudflare was hit by an outage Tuesday that knocked several major websites offline for global users.

Many sites came back online within a few hours. By 9:57 a.m. ET, Cloudflare said it had fixed the problem.

X, ChatGPT, Shopify, Indeed, Truth Social, and Claude were among the affected sites. Some NJ Transit digital services also went down.

The Cause

Cloudflare said the problem started with a configuration file used to manage threat traffic. The file "grew beyond an expected size of entries." That triggered a crash in the software system.

The company started seeing unusual traffic around 5:20 a.m. ET.

There's no evidence of an attack or malicious activity, Cloudflare said.

The Apology

"Given the importance of Cloudflare's services, any outage is unacceptable," a spokesperson said. "We apologize to our customers and the internet in general for letting you down today."

Cloudflare helps manage and secure traffic for about 20% of the web. The company guards against distributed denial of service attacks.

The Market Impact

Cloudflare shares fell more than 2%.

Recent Context

The issue comes less than a month after Amazon Web Services suffered a daylong disruption. Microsoft's Azure cloud and 365 services also had a global outage recently.

In July 2024, a faulty CrowdStrike software upgrade caused a massive outage. It temporarily halted flights, impacted financial services, and pushed hospitals to delay procedures.

The Bottom Line

Cloudflare's outage took down major sites for hours due to a configuration file that grew too large, highlighting how internet infrastructure companies serving 20% of the web can cause widespread disruption when things go wrong.

Get Market Briefs delivered to your inbox every morning for free!

No fluff. No noise. No politics. Just finance news you can read in 5 minutes.

Recent News

June 4, 2026

Bank of Japan Set to Hike Rates After $74B Yen Defense

June 4, 2026

Foxconn And Intel Team Up On AI Infrastructure

June 4, 2026

Micron Stock Climbs As China's Memory Chipmakers Close The Gap

1 2 3 … 693 Next »

Blogs

Financial Literacy Books That Actually Build Wealth

By Nate Gregory

The best financial literacy books don't just teach budgeting, they shift how you think about money.
Two classics stand out: The Intelligent Investor for valuing investments, and Rich Dad Poor Dad for the owner's mindset.
Reading is only step one. The real wealth comes from acting on what you learn.

What Is a Roth Conversion? A Simple Guide

By Milena Thomas

A Roth conversion moves money from a traditional retirement account into a Roth account.
You pay taxes on the money now, in exchange for tax-free growth and withdrawals later.
It can pay off if you expect higher taxes or more income in the future, but the timing and tax hit matter a lot.

Trailing Stop Loss: How to Protect Your Gains

By Andre Savage

A trailing stop loss is an order that automatically sells a stock if it falls a set percentage from its recent high.
As the stock rises, the sell point rises with it, locking in gains while capping losses.
It's most useful for active strategies like momentum investing, not for long-term buy-and-hold.

5 Types of Wealth: Why Money Is Only One of Them

By Nate Gregory

Real wealth is more than a bank balance. It spans your finances, health, mind, purpose, and freedom.
Money is powerful, but it amplifies the life you already have rather than fixing a broken one.
True financial wealth means your cash flow covers your expenses, so your money works while you live.

How to Invest in Private Equity: A Beginner's Guide

By Jackson Moreland

Private equity means investing in companies that aren't listed on the stock market.
Traditional private equity is built for experienced, high-net-worth investors with large amounts to invest.
New rules have opened more accessible paths, like startup crowdfunding and real estate deals, often starting around $100.

What Is a Call Option? A Simple Guide With Examples

By Nate Gregory

A call option gives you the right to buy a stock at a set price by a set date.
Investors buy calls when they expect a stock to rise, using less money than buying the shares outright.
The most you can lose buying a call is the premium, but time works against you, so it's an advanced tool.

EBITDA Formula: How to Calculate It Step by Step

By Cierra Seay

EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization, a measure of a company's core profit.
The formula adds those four items back to net income to show what the underlying business earns.
Investors use EBITDA to compare companies and to judge how many times earnings a stock is selling for.

What Is a Stock Option? A Plain-English Guide

By Nate Gregory

A stock option is a contract giving you the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a stock at a set price by a set date.
There are two types: calls (the right to buy) and puts (the right to sell).
Options are powerful but risky, so they suit investors who already have the basics down.

Put Option: What It Is and How It Works

By Kalbir Talwar

A put option gives you the right to sell a stock at a set price by a set date.
Investors use puts to bet a stock will fall, or as insurance to protect shares they own.
The most you can lose buying a put is the premium you paid, which makes it a defined-risk tool.

Operating Margin: What It Is and How to Calculate It

By Jackson Moreland

Operating margin shows how much profit a company keeps from its core business after paying its running costs.
The formula is operating income divided by revenue, shown as a percent.
A strong, steady operating margin signals a well-run business that controls its costs.

1 2 3 … 22 Next »