• OpenAI stated it did not authorise or partner with Robinhood on the sale of "OpenAI tokens" and said the tokens are not equity.
  • Robinhood claims the tokens offer indirect exposure to OpenAI via a special purpose vehicle (SPV) it has a stake.

OpenAI has publicly condemned Robinhood’s sale of so-called “OpenAI tokens,” making it clear that the offering does not grant investors actual equity in the company.

In a post from its official newsroom account on X, OpenAI stated that it was neither involved in nor endorsed the effort.

“These ‘OpenAI tokens’ are not OpenAI equity,” the post read. “We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it. Any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval, we did not approve any transfer. Please be careful.”

This follows Robinhood’s announcement earlier this week that it would begin offering tokenised shares of private companies like OpenAI and SpaceX to investors in the European Union.

The company claimed the tokens would allow everyday users to gain exposure to high-profile firms via blockchain.

Tokenised Contracts, Not Real Shares

Despite Robinhood’s framing, shares in private companies like OpenAI are not available to the general public and are typically sold only to selected investors.

Robinhood’s offering involves tokenised contracts that track the price of OpenAI shares, indirectly held through a special purpose vehicle (SPV).

According to the company’s help centre, these are not real shares but “tokenised contracts that follow their price, recorded on a blockchain.”

Robinhood spokesperson Rouky Diallo described the initiative as a “limited” giveaway to provide indirect exposure through Robinhood’s stake in the SPV.

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev defended the project, stating,

“While it is true that they aren’t technically ‘equity,’ … the tokens effectively give retail investors exposure to these private assets.”

Similar efforts have faced backlash before. Figure AI recently issued cease-and-desist letters to brokers marketing its shares without authorisation, highlighting the sensitivity around perceived equity sales by private firms.

Edited by Annette George