Amazon Web Services (AWS) experienced a widespread outage on Monday, impacting connectivity for numerous global companies and disrupting access to popular websites and apps including Fortnite, Snapchat, and Coinbase.
In a statement on its service status page, AWS confirmed:
“We can confirm increased error rates and latencies for multiple AWS services in the US-EAST-1 region.”
Several major platforms quickly identified AWS as the root of their service disruptions. Perplexity AI’s CEO, Aravind Srinivas, acknowledged the issue in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating:
“Perplexity is down right now. The root cause is an AWS issue. We’re working on resolving it.”
AWS is Amazon’s cloud computing arm, providing essential infrastructure such as on-demand computing power and data storage. An interruption to its services often causes a domino effect, affecting any platform or website that relies on AWS cloud infrastructure.
Amazon’s own services, including Prime Video, Alexa, and the main shopping site, were among those hit, according to reports from Downdetector.
Other major platforms affected included:
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Gaming apps: Fortnite, Roblox, Clash Royale, and Clash of Clans
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Financial services: PayPal’s Venmo and Chime
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Rideshare apps: Lyft
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Messaging platforms: Signal
AWS and Amazon have not yet issued a formal comment beyond the service status update.
The incident once again highlights the widespread dependency on cloud providers like Amazon, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure—and the ripple effect that a single outage can cause across digital ecosystems globally.
