Proudly owning a Piece of ChatGPT Was Already Messy. Then Elon Musk Made It Weirder

OpenAI has a message for anybody who thinks they’re about to money in on the AI increase by shopping for a brand new “OpenAI token” on Robinhood: Don’t. However in a chaotic flip, Elon Musk simply recommended that even the corporate’s actual fairness is perhaps an phantasm.

The maker of ChatGPT, in a uncommon public warning posted on X (previously Twitter), disavowed any involvement with crypto-like monetary merchandise claiming to supply a chunk of its enterprise.

“These ‘OpenAI tokens’ are usually not OpenAI fairness,” the corporate wrote. “We didn’t associate with Robinhood, weren’t concerned on this, and don’t endorse it. Any switch of OpenAI fairness requires our approval—we didn’t approve any switch.”

The corporate added a transparent warning: “Please watch out.”

These “OpenAI tokens” are usually not OpenAI fairness. We didn’t associate with Robinhood, weren’t concerned on this, and don’t endorse it.  Any switch of OpenAI fairness requires our approval—we didn’t approve any switch.

Please watch out.

— OpenAI Newsroom (@OpenAINewsroom) July 2, 2025

This unusual scenario instantly attracted the eye of Elon Musk, OpenAI’s co-founder turned chief antagonist. He responded to the corporate’s put up with a blunt, explosive accusation of his personal:

“Your ‘fairness’ is faux.”

Your “fairness” is faux

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 2, 2025

The Tokenization of Hype

The controversy started after Robinhood, the favored buying and selling platform, unveiled a new product for its European clients. In a press release to Gizmodo, the corporate defined its transfer.

“To cap off our latest crypto occasion, we introduced a restricted inventory token giveaway on OpenAI and SpaceX to eligible European clients,” a Robinhood spokesperson mentioned. ”These tokens give retail traders oblique publicity to non-public markets, opening up entry, and are enabled by Robinhood’s possession stake in a particular goal car.”

Robinhood used a Particular Function Automobile (SPV), which is actually a separate firm created to carry an funding, to purchase a stake in OpenAI. It then issued its personal digital tokens that symbolize a declare on that stake. This course of, referred to as tokenization, goals to make illiquid property, like a share in a personal firm, simple to commerce.

CEO Vlad Tenev elaborated on X, admitting the tokens are usually not a direct funding. “Whereas it’s true that they aren’t technically ‘fairness’ (you’ll be able to see the exact dynamics in our Phrases for these ), the tokens successfully give retail traders publicity to those non-public property,” he defined. “Our giveaway crops a seed for one thing a lot larger.”

At our latest crypto occasion, we introduced a restricted Inventory Token giveaway on OpenAI and SpaceX to eligible European clients. Whereas it’s true that they aren’t technically “fairness” (you’ll be able to see the exact dynamics in our Phrases for these ), the tokens successfully give…

— Vlad Tenev (@vladtenev) July 2, 2025

Musk vs. OpenAI: The Possession Wars Proceed

Musk’s swipe is the most recent in his lengthy working conflict with the corporate he helped discovered and now overtly despises. He has accused it of abandoning its nonprofit mission for revenue and has even filed a lawsuit in opposition to it. However his remark additionally throws a highlight on the weird company construction that makes this entire scenario doable.

OpenAI is technically ruled by a nonprofit board. Most of its industrial merchandise, like ChatGPT, are operated by a “capped-profit” subsidiary. This hybrid mannequin means traders can earn returns, however solely as much as a sure restrict, after which any extra earnings are speculated to be returned to the nonprofit to “profit humanity.”

This construction makes a conventional IPO inconceivable and means even inner traders don’t maintain “fairness” within the regular sense. They personal a proper to a share of future earnings, however solely inside the complicated limits set by the board. So when Musk says “your fairness is faux,” he’s not simply trolling. He’s mentioning that the very nature of possession on the world’s most vital AI firm is complicated and opaque.

Our Take: A Messy Glimpse into the Future

This confluence of crypto hype, company vagueness, and a billionaire feud is a harmful cocktail for on a regular basis traders. AI is the following frontier for monetary hypothesis, and this episode reveals how inventive the makes an attempt to money in have turn into.

Whether or not Robinhood’s token was a well-intentioned however deceptive product or one thing extra cynical, the truth that OpenAI needed to publicly disavow it’s a huge crimson flag. You’ll be able to’t purchase OpenAI inventory. You’ll be able to’t commerce official OpenAI tokens. If you happen to assume you’ve discovered a strategy to personal a chunk of the AI revolution, you’re most likely being misled. If somebody tells you in any other case, you’re most likely being scammed.

However Elon Musk’s jab factors to a deeper irony: Within the unusual, complicated world of OpenAI’s company construction, even its personal insiders could probably not personal what they assume they do. Because the AI gold rush heats up, possession is changing into some of the contested, complicated, and deceptive components of the story. And until corporations like OpenAI turn into extra clear, the vacuum will probably be stuffed by faux merchandise, crypto stunts, and viral misinformation.