Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing arm of Amazon, faced a widespread outage on Monday, disrupting operations for multiple companies and popular websites across the globe.
The outage caused connectivity issues that affected several major platforms, including gaming, finance, and messaging apps.
AWS confirmed the disruption on its status page, stating, “We can confirm increased error rates and latencies for multiple AWS Services in the US-EAST-1 Region.”
AI startup Perplexity, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, and trading app Robinhood all attributed their service disruptions to AWS. “Perplexity is down right now. The root cause is an AWS issue. We're working on resolving it,” Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas said in a post on X.
AWS provides cloud computing, data storage, and digital infrastructure to organisations and individuals around the world. Any interruption in its services can lead to widespread outages for companies that rely on its systems. The service is a major competitor to Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure.
According to outage tracker Downdetector, Amazon’s own services — including its shopping website, Prime Video, and Alexa — were also affected. Several gaming platforms such as Fortnite, Roblox, Clash Royale, and Clash of Clans experienced downtime, while financial apps including Venmo and Chime were hit as well.
Uber rival Lyft’s app went down for thousands of users in the United States, adding to the list of affected services.
Messaging platform Signal also faced disruptions. Its president, Meredith Whittaker, confirmed the issue on X, saying their platform had been impacted by the AWS outage.
AWS and Amazon have not yet issued an official comment regarding the cause or duration of the outage.