Key Takeaways
- Thousands of users experienced a Microsoft service outage affecting Outlook, Teams, and Exchange Online.
- Microsoft said a recent change caused the failure.
- Considering the timing of the outage, Microsoft’s new AI feature, Recall, could be to blame.
A global Microsoft outage disrupted thousands of Outlook, Teams and Exchange Online users on Monday, Nov. 25, prompting the firm to issue an emergency patch to affected systems.
For Microsoft, the issue casts a shadow over the rollout of its new AI feature, Recall, which was launched in preview on Monday.
Major Outage Hits Microsoft Services
Starting on Monday and continuing throughout the night into Tuesday, reports of users having trouble accessing Microsoft’s communication services surged.
The issue affected both desktop and browser versions of Microsoft apps, with business systems and home computers impacted.
Acknowledging the problem, Microsoft said, “We’ve identified a recent change that we believe has had an impact.”
In a bid to resolve the issue, the firm said it had reverted the change and deployed a fix to the affected environment.
Although most affected users wouldn’t need to do anything, Microsoft said a subset of machines would need to be restarted manually.
Microsoft didn’t identify the specific change at the root of the incident. However, considering the timing, it raises questions about whether the deployment of Recall may have played a role.
Microsoft Recall’s Shaky Rollout
First announced earlier this year, Recall lets Windows users retrace their steps by keeping a record of their computer use. The feature creates a searchable timeline of images by capturing a screenshot every few seconds. Integrated AI helps users identify the specific moment they are looking for.
Although the feature was initially slated for release in June, it was postponed on several occasions due to security and privacy concerns.
In May, for example, the U.K.’s data protection watchdog made inquiries to understand the potential privacy ramifications and to scrutinize the safeguards Microsoft put in place.
While testing Recall, Microsoft flip-flopped on whether to let users uninstall the feature entirely, or simply provide an option to disable it.
At one point, the company made it possible to uninstall Recall, only to revert course weeks later, claiming the option was a bug.
A Test of Microsoft’s AI Strategy
While Microsoft has not explicitly linked Recall to the latest outage, the episode highlights the challenges the company faces as it attempts to roll out new features in complex, hybrid environments.
Aggressively asserting itself as a key player in the emerging AI ecosystem is clearly part of Microsoft’s long-term strategy. But doing so at the cost of reliability will likely hurt its reputation.
The latest event serves as a cautionary tale for Microsoft’s Big Tech peers. As major software players race to incorporate more sophisticated AI capabilities across their product suites, doing so without compromising usability is crucial.
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