TikTok Faces Widespread Outage Following Data Center Power Failure
TikTok experienced a major service disruption starting early Sunday morning, January 26, 2026, impacting users globally. According to TikTok USDS, the issues stemmed from a power outage at a data center, which led to a cascading systems failure. The outage, which persisted for over a day, affected key features, including the For You page algorithm, comment loading, and video publishing capabilities, according to The Verge.
The disruption occurred shortly after Oracle Co. took over the reins of TikTok's US operations. Users reported that the For You page algorithm became unreliable, and features like comments were either failing to load or loading slowly. Many users also found it nearly impossible to publish new videos.
While rumors circulated regarding potential censorship targeting anti-ICE protests or discussions about Jeffrey Epstein, The Verge reported that these claims appeared to be misguided.
As of January 27, 2026, at 4:26 AM UTC, TikTok USDS stated that they were working to restore full functionality. The company has not yet provided a specific timeline for complete service restoration.
In other tech news, Apple introduced a new version of its AirTag tracking device, dubbed "the new AirTag," featuring an improved Bluetooth chip, according to Ars Technica. The original AirTag, released five years prior, gained popularity but also raised concerns about unwanted tracking. Apple has since introduced features to address these concerns.
Additionally, Apple's AirPods Max were on sale at Best Buy for $429.99 as part of a flash deal, according to The Verge. The deal was set to expire on January 28th.
Anthropic also released "Tasks" for Claude Code (v2.1.16) last week, a solution designed to improve the "working memory" of AI agents, enabling them to manage complex, multi-stage engineering projects more effectively, according to VentureBeat.
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