Robinhood Stock Dips After OpenAI Denies Links To Tokenized Offering: 'We... Do Not Endorse It'

Robinhood (HOOD) stock slipped 1.4% in extended trading on Wednesday after OpenAI distanced itself from the “OpenAI tokens” the trading platform had launched in Europe this week.

“These 'OpenAI tokens' are not OpenAI equity. We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it,” the Sam Altman-led firm clarified on X after Robinhood said on Monday it will launch so-called tokenized shares of SpaceX, OpenAI, and other private companies.

“Any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval—we did not approve any transfer,” OpenAI said before asking people to ‘be careful.’

A Robinhood spokesperson told CNBC that the tokens were intended to provide retail investors with indirect exposure to private markets, facilitated by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle (SPV). Robinhood stock jumped to an all-time high following this week’s announcement.

Shares of giant, privately held firms such as OpenAI or SpaceX are not available for retail traders, and the companies choose themselves who to sell their shares to. Robinhood’s comments imply that it owns an SPV that owns some OpenAI equity.

“You are not buying the actual stocks — you are buying tokenized contracts that follow their price, recorded on a blockchain,” Robinhood wrote in its help center page.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about Robinhood was in the ‘extremely bullish’ territory while retail chatter was ‘extremely high.’

“These tokens give retail investors indirect exposure to private markets, opening up access, and are enabled by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle,” Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said.

Amid OpenAI’s clarification, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk chimed in on OpenAI’s post, declaring: “Your ‘equity’ is fake.” Musk, who co-founded OpenAI, has repeatedly criticized the organization for straying from its original nonprofit mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity, accusing it of prioritizing commercial gain instead.

In February, Musk and a group of investors reportedly offered $97.4 billion to acquire control of OpenAI — an offer that Altman promptly rejected.

U.S. users cannot purchase the tokens due to more stringent regulatory requirements compared to those in the European Union.

Robinhood stock has more than doubled this year.

Also See: Archer Aviation Stock Draws Retail Chatter After Midnight eVTOL Takes Flight In Abu Dhabi

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