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 prompt that even the corporate’s actual fairness may be 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 bit of its enterprise.

“These ‘OpenAI tokens’ usually are 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” usually are 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 publish 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 an announcement 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 objective automobile.”

Robinhood used a Particular Function Car (SPV), which is basically a separate firm created to carry an funding, to purchase a stake in OpenAI. It then issued its personal digital tokens that signify a declare on that stake. This course of, often known as tokenization, goals to make illiquid property, like a share in a non-public firm, simple to commerce.

CEO Vlad Tenev elaborated on X, admitting the tokens usually are 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 vegetation 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 warfare with the corporate he helped discovered and now brazenly despises. He has accused it of abandoning its nonprofit mission for revenue and has even filed a lawsuit towards it. However his remark additionally throws a highlight on the weird company construction that makes this complete scenario attainable.

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 presupposed to be returned to the nonprofit to “profit humanity.”

This construction makes a conventional IPO unattainable and means even inside traders don’t maintain “fairness” within the regular sense. They personal a proper to a share of future earnings, however solely throughout the complicated limits set by the board. So when Musk says “your fairness is faux,” he’s not simply trolling. He’s declaring that the very nature of possession on the world’s most essential 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 subsequent frontier for monetary hypothesis, and this episode exhibits how artistic the makes an attempt to money in have turn out to be.

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 large purple flag. You may’t purchase OpenAI inventory. You may’t commerce official OpenAI tokens. If you happen to assume you’ve discovered a approach to personal a bit 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 one of the crucial contested, complicated, and deceptive elements of the story. And except firms like OpenAI turn out to be extra clear, the vacuum shall be stuffed by faux merchandise, crypto stunts, and viral misinformation.