OpenAI wants it to be clear that Robinhood’s sale of “OpenAI tokens” will not give everyday customers equity — or stock –in OpenAI, according to the company. OpenAI posted on its official newsroom page on X. It says it does NOT endorse Robinhood, nor did it facilitate the token sale.
OpenAI’s official newsroom account said on Wednesday that “These ‘OpenAI Tokens’ aren’t OpenAI equity.” “We are not a partner of Robinhood and we do not endorse this. We have not approved any transfer of OpenAI equity. Please be careful.”
OpenAI equity is not represented by these “OpenAI tokens”. We are not a partner of Robinhood and we do not endorse this. We did not approve any transfer of OpenAI equity.
Be careful.
– OpenAI Newsroom @OpenAINewsroom OpenAI’s July 2, 2025 statement is in response to Robinhood’s announcement made earlier this week, that it would be launching a new AI platform. Start selling tokenized shares of OpenAI SpaceX and other private companies in the European Union.
Robinhood claims that the launch is an attempt to give people access to equity in some of the world’s most valuable companies via blockchain. Robinhood’s share price rose within hours of announcing the token sales. Shot to an all-time highest.
However, stock in private companies such as OpenAI and SpaceX is not available to the general public. This is what makes them private. They can sell shares to any investor they choose.
OpenAI has publicly disavowed Robinhood’s efforts.
In reply to OpenAI’s condemnation of Robinhood, Rouky Diallo, a spokesperson for the company, told TechCrunch OpenAI tokens were a part of a “limited” giveaway to offer retail investor indirect exposure “through Robinhood’s ownership stake in an SPV.”
This suggests that Robinhood owns a certain number shares of OpenAI. Shares of SPVs do not represent direct ownership of shares either. They are ownership of a vehicle which owns the shares. Robinhood appears to be tying its new tokenized product in some way to the OpenAI share price of that SPV. However, the price of shares in an SPV may differ from that of a share of stock.
In Robinhood’s Help center, The company notes that, when buying its stock tokens, you “are not buying the actual shares — you are purchasing tokenized contracts that track their price, recorded in a blockchain.”
While it is true that the tokens aren’t technically “equity,”[…] they effectively give retail investors access to these private assets,” stated Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, in a Post on XWednesday. OpenAI declined further comment. “Our giveaway plants the seed for something bigger. Since our announcement, we’ve heard from many private companies who are eager to join us on the tokenization revolution.” TechCrunch asked Robinhood additional questions about the SPV. Robinhood did not reply.
Private firms are known to resist anything that could affect how their equity is valued. In recent months, humanoid robots startup Figure AI sent cease and desist letters to two secondary market brokers who were marketing the company’s stock. These situations are all different, but startups do not want people to think that they have authorized share sales when they haven’t. Maxwell Zeff, a senior reporter for TechCrunch who specializes in AI, is
Maxwell Zeff. Zeff covered the rise and fall of AI, as well as the Silicon Valley Bank Crisis, for Gizmodo and MSNBC. He is based out of San Francisco. When he is not reporting, you can find him hiking, biking and exploring the Bay Area food scene.
View Bio
