Elon Musk Throws Shades At Rival Sam Altman’s OpenAI Over Token Transfer To Robinhood Trading App

Are OpenAI tokens for sale on Robinhood legit? Will the tokens grant OpenAI stocks to the buyers? Earlier trading app Robinhood announced the selling of tokenized shares of OpenAI, SpaceX, and other private companies. However, the sale is restricted to the users in the European Union (EU). Responding to the muddling confusion among users, the Sam Altman company issued an official statement on X/Twitter. It stated

These “OpenAI tokens” are not OpenAI equity. We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it. Any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval—we did not approve any transfer.

OpenAI added a word of caution.

Please be careful.

So what is Robinhood’s stance? The company tweeted,

To cap off our recent crypto event, we announced a limited Stock Token giveaway on OpenAI and SpaceX to eligible European customers. 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.

Rouky Diallo, the Robinhood spokesperson, told TechCrunch that these OpenAI tokens were limited giveaways and offered retail investors indirect exposure in a special purpose vehicle (SPV) via Robinhood’s ownership stake.

Co-founder and CEO of the Robinhood app in his X post clarified

While it is true that they aren’t technically “equity” (you can see the precise dynamics in our Terms for those interested), the tokens effectively give retail investors exposure to these private assets. Our giveaway plants a seed for something much bigger, and since our announcement we’ve been hearing from many private companies that are eager to join us in the tokenization revolution.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk threw shades at the OpenAI company, stating

Your “equity” is fake

Musk and Altman haven’t exactly been on the same page ever since the billionaire’s exit from the founding board of OpenAI. The Tesla boss has been a vocal critic of OpenAI’s pivot from non-profit.

These “OpenAI tokens” are not OpenAI equity. We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it. Any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval—we did not approve any transfer.

Please be careful.
— OpenAI Newsroom (@OpenAINewsroom) July 2, 2025

To cap off our recent crypto event, we announced a limited Stock Token giveaway on OpenAI and SpaceX to eligible European customers. These tokens give retail investors indirect exposure to private markets, opening up access, and are enabled by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a…
— Robinhood Comms (@RobinhoodComms) July 2, 2025

At our recent crypto event, we announced a limited Stock Token giveaway on OpenAI and SpaceX to eligible European customers. While it is true that they aren’t technically “equity” (you can see the precise dynamics in our Terms for those interested), the tokens effectively give…
— Vlad Tenev (@vladtenev) July 2, 2025

Your “equity” is fake
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 2, 2025

See Also: ‘I Was Wrong’: Sam Altman Takes Shots At Elon Musk For ‘Abusing’ Power For Unfair Competition

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See Also: ‘Elon Is Not A Happy Person’ Sam Altman Takes A Dig After Rejecting Musk’s $97.4 Billion Offer To Buy OpenAI

Cover: Patrick Gawande / Mashable India