One user says ChatGPT's app asked for their age, then refused to let them back in
A forum post describes a login loop on the ChatGPT phone app. It is a single unverified report, but it shows why one sign-in method is a risk.
The short version
- The user says ChatGPT worked normally the day before the problem began.
- The phone app asked for the user's age, then showed an 'email already in use' error.
- The user says the error keeps repeating and asks for help.
- No reply from OpenAI or Google appears in our material, and the cause is unknown.
- Nothing shows other people are affected, so this is not a confirmed outage.
Why it matters
Many people sign in to AI tools with an existing Google account, so a glitch with that sign-in can shut you out of work you rely on. A few minutes of setup now can save you from being locked out later.
What the user reported
A user posted on the OpenAI community forum, community.openai.com, about a sign-in problem tied to their Google account. According to the post, ChatGPT had worked normally the day before. Then, on opening the phone app, the user was asked for their age and entered it.
After that step, the app showed an error saying the email address was already in use. The user says the message keeps coming back, and asks for help from anyone, including OpenAI itself.
What we do not know
This is one person's account of one problem. The post does not name a phone model, app version or country, and our material shows no reply from OpenAI or Google. We cannot say whether anyone else is affected, so there is no evidence of an outage.
Read literally, the error says the system thinks an account for that address already exists. Why it appeared right after an age prompt is unknown, and we will not guess.
Why a small post is worth a look
Plenty of people sign in to AI tools using a Google account because it is quick and means one less password. The flip side is that a problem with that account, or with how it links to a service, can lock you out of several tools at once.
That is the real lesson here, more than the glitch itself. Your access to your chats and drafts depends on a sign-in route you may never have thought about.
Cheap ways to protect yourself
- Add a second sign-in method, such as an email and password, wherever the service allows it.
- Save your account recovery options, like a backup email or phone number, while everything still works.
- Keep copies of important work outside any single tool.
None of this fixes the user's problem, and we cannot promise any step would have prevented it. It simply makes a lockout less painful.
What to watch
- Does OpenAI respond to the post or explain the 'email already in use' error?
- Do other users report the same age prompt and error loop?
Try it
Open the account settings of the AI tool you use most and check that a second sign-in method and a recovery email or phone number are set up.
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Listen to the daily showsFirst reported by community.openai.com · Read the original. Written by the SI Agent News Desk from the reporting above.Written with AI from the source above. Every number is checked against the source. Spot a mistake? Corrections.