{"id":96548,"date":"2025-07-03T05:21:51","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T05:21:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/03\/openai-condemns-robinhoods-openai-tokens\/"},"modified":"2025-07-03T05:21:51","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T05:21:51","slug":"openai-condemns-robinhoods-openai-tokens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/03\/openai-condemns-robinhoods-openai-tokens\/","title":{"rendered":"OpenAI condemns Robinhood’s ‘OpenAI tokens’"},"content":{"rendered":"


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OpenAI wants to make clear that Robinhood\u2019s sale of \u201cOpenAI tokens\u201d will not give everyday consumers equity \u2014 or stock \u2014 in OpenAI, the company said in a post<\/a> from its official newsroom account on X. OpenAI says it does not endorse Robinhood\u2019s effort, nor was it involved in facilitating the token sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese \u2018OpenAI tokens\u2019 are not OpenAI equity,\u201d said OpenAI\u2019s newsroom account on Wednesday. \u201cWe did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it.\u00a0Any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval\u2014we did not approve any transfer. Please be careful.\u201d<\/p>\n

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These \u201cOpenAI tokens\u201d are not OpenAI equity. We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it.\u00a0 Any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval\u2014we did not approve any transfer. <\/p>\n

Please be careful.<\/p>\n

\u2014 OpenAI Newsroom (@OpenAINewsroom) July 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

OpenAI\u2019s statement is a response to Robinhood\u2019s announcement earlier this week that it would start selling so-called tokenized shares of OpenAI, SpaceX,<\/a> and other private companies to people in the European Union.<\/p>\n

Robinhood says the launch represents an attempt to give everyday people exposure to equity in the world\u2019s most valuable private companies via blockchain. Hours after announcing these token sales, Robinhood\u2019s stock price shot to an all-time high.<\/a><\/p>\n

But stock in private companies like OpenAI and SpaceX are not available to the public. That\u2019s what makes them private. They sell shares to investors of their choosing. <\/p>\n

So OpenAI is openly disavowing Robinhood\u2019s effort. <\/p>\n

In response to OpenAI\u2019s condemnation, Robinhood spokesperson Rouky Diallo told TechCrunch that OpenAI tokens were part of a \u201climited\u201d giveaway to offer retail investors indirect exposure \u201cthrough Robinhood\u2019s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle (SPV).\u201d<\/p>\n

That suggests Robinhood owns shares of an SPV that controls a certain number of OpenAI\u2019s shares. Like the tokens, shares of SPVs are not direct ownership of shares, either. They are ownership in a vehicle that owns the shares. In one way or another, Robinhood seems to be tying the price of its new tokenized product to the OpenAI shares in that SPV. But shares prices in an SPV can also differ from prices of an actual share of stock<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Robinhood\u2019s help center,<\/a> the company notes that when buying any of its stock tokens, \u201cyou are not buying the actual stocks \u2014 you are buying tokenized contracts that follow their price, recorded on a blockchain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile it is true that they aren\u2019t technically \u2018equity,\u2019\u00a0[\u2026] the tokens effectively give retail investors exposure to these private assets,\u201d said Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev in a post on X<\/a> on Wednesday. \u201cOur giveaway plants a seed for something much bigger, and since our announcement we\u2019ve been hearing from many private companies that are eager to join us in the tokenization revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

OpenAI declined to comment further. Robinhood did not respond to TechCrunch\u2019s additional questions about its SPV.<\/p>\n

Private companies are known to push back against anything that could influence how their equity is valued. In recent months, humanoid robotics startup Figure AI sent cease-and-desist letters to two brokers<\/a> running secondary markets that were marketing the company\u2019s stock. Of course, these situations are different, but most startups don\u2019t want people to believe that they\u2019ve authorized share sales if they haven\u2019t.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n