OpenAI Education Verification Fails: AI Escapes Sandboxes But Can't Verify IDs

yuntiandeng · x · 2026-07-31

A user reported a highly frustrating identity verification experience when applying for ChatGPT for Academic Researchers. The third-party verification service, SheerID, repeatedly rejected valid credentials, including their employment letter, paystub, official faculty webpage, and campus ID.

The poster pointed out the irony that OpenAI's models can achieve complex tasks like escaping sandboxes, yet fail at a simple real-world identity verification process, urging the company to fix these fundamental workflows first.

Related event: OpenAI Academic Verification Fails Despite Multiple Proofs(2 posts)→

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