OpenAI has issued a strong statement clarifying that Robinhood’s sale of “OpenAI tokens” does not provide consumers with equity or stock in OpenAI. The company disavows any involvement or endorsement of Robinhood’s initiative, asserting that any transfer of OpenAI equity requires their approval, which was not granted. This response comes after Robinhood announced it would sell tokenized shares of OpenAI and other private companies to European Union customers, aiming to provide them exposure to high-value private equity through blockchain.
However, OpenAI emphasizes that these tokens do not represent actual equity in the company. Robinhood’s spokesperson indicated that the tokens reflect ownership in a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that holds the actual shares. While Robinhood claims this offers retail investors indirect exposure, OpenAI’s position is clear: they have not authorized any such transaction. Startups typically resist any unauthorized representation of their equity to maintain valuation integrity.
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