Microsoft, OpenAI and Asana Experience Major Service Disruptions

Multiple major workplace software platforms suffered significant service disruptions on Monday, August 31, 2026. Microsoft Corporation confirmed degraded functionality within Exchange Online, which prevented Outlook users from opening, searching, or sending emails. User reports on Downdetector peaked between 4,600 and 6,000 during the outage.

Simultaneously, OpenAI reported elevated errors and latency for its enterprise AI agent, ChatGPT Work, beginning around 11 a.m. EST. While Microsoft and OpenAI maintain a long-term partnership, no evidence emerged connecting the two separate outages.

Users also reported widespread access problems with the project management platform Asana starting at approximately 10:40 a.m. EDT. Unlike the other two companies, Asana did not issue a public statement or update its official status page regarding the disruption.