Claude AI down: Users report ‘authentication service unavailable’ error amid outage

Anthropic has not said what caused the outage.

Updated on: Aug 17, 2026, 05:59:40 IST

By Vaishnavi Vaidyanathan

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Update: Claude AI is back up after a brief outage reported across the United States on Sunday evening.

A Claude artificial intelligence (AI) logo on a smartphone. (Bloomberg)

Anthropic’s status page said, "The issue affecting claude.ai, platform.claude.com, the Claude API, Claude Code, and Claude Cowork has been resolved."

Earlier, the company said, "A fix has been deployed for the issue affecting claude.ai, platform.claude.com, the Claude API, Claude Code, and Claude Cowork and we are monitoring for recovery."

Anthropic has not said what caused the outage.

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Initial report: Claude is facing a widespread outage, with users reporting authentication errors and difficulty accessing the AI chatbot. Anthropic’s status page shows a service disruption affecting Claude services.

Downdetector reports

According to outage-tracking site Downdetector, reports of problems began rising around 6 p.m. EDT on Sunday.

Users in several parts of the US reported seeing an “authentication service unavailable” error when trying to access Claude.

By 6:15 p.m., Downdetector had received over 15,000 error reports.

One user wrote, “It's been down about 15 minutes now, keep getting an authenticator error.”

Another added, "All claude is down, we are in the stone age now."

A third user reported, "Claude is not working. I cant send messeges."

Another wrote, "I am experiencing Claude service outage for at least last 15 minutes. I'm in Silicon Valley."

One more user added, "At least it's on a Sunday (Los Angeles time). Sorry for folks that this is hitting their work day."

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What Anthropic said

Anthropic initially acknowledged the problem on its status page, saying it was investigating an issue affecting users trying to authenticate to claude.ai, Claude Code, and Claude Cowork.

In a later update, the company said, "We are investigating reports of degraded performance affecting claude.ai, platform.claude.com, the Claude API, Claude Code, and Claude Cowork. We will provide an update as soon as possible."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vaishnavi Vaidyanathan
Vaishnavi Vaidyanathan leads the US Desk at Hindustan Times, where she writes, strategises coverage, and ensures quality across all beats. With eight years of experience covering US news for leading publications, she has reported extensively on politics, entertainment, and sports. Vaishnavi holds a graduate degree in English, Journalism, and Psychology, and completed her PG Diploma in Broadcast Journalism from the Manorama School of Communication, where she was awarded the prestigious Mammen Mappillai Award for Best Outgoing Student. She began her career at the International Business Times (US Edition), covering US breaking news, politics, and entertainment. She later joined Opoyi, reporting across all beats, including US sports and trending stories. Prior to Hindustan Times, she served as World Lead at Times Now News, covering comprehensive world news and events. Vaishnavi has expertise in politics, entertainment, and breaking news, and enjoys tackling stories across a wide range of topics. Beyond the newsroom, she is an avid traveller, a foodie who loves exploring new restaurants, and a pop culture enthusiast who enjoys watching latest shows and films. She also enjoys engaging in debates and discussions on Reddit.Read More

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