# AssemblyAI: Major incident: Degraded Async Transcription Performance

**Summary:** AssemblyAI reported a major async transcription degradation from 2026-04-09 21:33 UTC to 2026-04-09 21:49 UTC, lasting 15 min. Some customers experienced increased processing times or throttled requests; AssemblyAI addressed a capacity constraint, cleared the transcription queue, and confirmed normal operation. _(machine-written, sol)_
- Kind: Major incident · Label: degradation (model (Jev))
- Changed: 2026-04-09 21:33 UTC · Detected: 2026-10-17 18:22 UTC
- [Source: https://stspg.io/snvdj7k3t1mv](https://stspg.io/snvdj7k3t1mv)
- [Company: AssemblyAI](https://rewindex.com/company/assemblyai.md)
- Versions: before (none: first archived) → after incident\_version:2/rgld1xccjfcy@a9380f1a2efe
- Change 1 of 1 for this incident

## What changed

**1. Added: Title**

```diff
+ Degraded Async Transcription Performance
```

**2. Added: Impact**

```diff
+ major
```

**3. Added: Status**

```diff
+ resolved
```

**4. Added: Start time**

```diff
+ 2026-04-09 21:33 UTC
```

**5. Added: Resolved time**

```diff
+ 2026-04-09 21:49 UTC
```

**6. Added: Affected components**

```diff
+ APIs - Asynchronous API, Asynchronous API, AWS Cloud - Transcription Queue, Transcription Queue
```

**7. Added: Update** (identified) · 2026-04-09 21:33 UTC

```diff
+ We are currently experiencing degraded async transcription performance. Some customers may see increased processing times or throttled requests. Our engineering team has identified the issue and is actively working to restore full capacity. We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.
```

**8. Added: Update** (monitoring) · 2026-04-09 21:40 UTC

```diff
+ The capacity constraint has been addressed and the transcription queue is actively clearing. Processing times should return to normal within the next few minutes. We are continuing to monitor to ensure stability.
```

**9. Added: Update** (resolved) · 2026-04-09 21:49 UTC

```diff
+ The issue affecting async transcription processing has been fully resolved. All systems are operating normally. We apologize for the disruption to your workflows. If you have any questions, please reach out to support@assemblyai.com.
```

## History of this incident

| When (UTC) | Change | Label |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-04-09 21:33 UTC | Major incident: Degraded Async Transcription Performance (this change) | degradation |

All AssemblyAI changes: [timeline](https://rewindex.com/company/assemblyai/changes.md)
_Diff excerpts are shown on normalized text: dates, counters and tokens appear as ‹date›, ‹count›, ‹tok›; noise-only edits are hidden. Rewindex shows the changed passages, not a copy of the page._


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Canonical: https://rewindex.com/change/id9650d50f6f740 · Markdown: https://rewindex.com/change/id9650d50f6f740.md · JSON: https://rewindex.com/api/v1/changes/id9650d50f6f740 · Generated 2026-10-18T02:29:38.653Z