OpenAI warned investors: Robinhood tokens do not give rights to the company

OpenAI has officially denied its involvement in the sale of so-called «OpenAI tokens» on the Robinhood platform. A statement published on the company’s official X (formerly Twitter) account emphasizes that these digital assets have nothing to do with real OpenAI shares and do not grant buyers any rights to a stake in the company.

OpenAI’s statement was published on the company’s official X (formerly Twitter) account.

«These tokens are not shares of OpenAI stock, — it said. — We have not partnered with Robinhood, participated in this project or consented to it. Any transactions in OpenAI stock require our express approval, which was not present in this case».

Any transactions in OpenAI stock require our express approval, which was not present in this case.

This statement was in response to Robinhood’s announcement that it would begin selling tokenized shares of private companies, including OpenAI and SpaceX, to European investors. According to Robinhood, their initiative aims to democratize access to shares in leading private companies through blockchain technology.

OpenAI, however, strongly rejects this interpretation. The company stresses that as a private organization it deliberately limits its investors and strictly controls all transactions in its own shares.

Robinhood clarified that it offers investors not the shares themselves, but tokens tied to the value of Robinhood’s stake in a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that owns OpenAI shares. Thus, buyers receive only indirect and indirect participation.

«While not technically shares, our tokens do give retail investors access to these private assets» — said Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, calling the move the start of a «tokenization revolution».

At the time, Robinhood’s CEO Vlad Tenev said, calling the move the beginning of a «tokenization revolution»

Experts note that such initiatives often draw resistance from private companies seeking to retain control of their capital. The startup Figure AI has previously taken legal action against brokers trading its «secondary» shares.

The startup Figure AI has already taken legal action against brokers trading its «secondary» shares.

At the time of publication, OpenAI declined to comment further, and Robinhood did not provide details on its SPV structure or token valuation mechanism.

The OpenAI warned investors: Robinhood’s tokens don’t entitle the company was first published on ITZine.ru.