Robinhood CEO downplays OpenAI concerns on tokenized stock structure

• In a CNBC interview Tuesday, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev defended the company's OpenAI and SpaceX stock tokens, given concerns over how they're structured.
• Last week, OpenAI issued a warning that Robinhood's stock tokens do not represent equity in the company.
• “In and of itself, I don't think it's entirely relevant that it's not technically an equity instrument,” Tenev said.

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev says it's not “entirely relevant” that the trading platform's so-called tokenized shares of OpenAI and SpaceX aren't technically equity in the companies.

It comes after OpenAI raised concerns about the product, which is designed to give users in the European Union exposure to various U.S. stocks — including private companies, which are less liquid than publicly listed firms.

OpenAI last week warned that Robinhood's stock tokens do not represent equity in the company and said in a post on X that, “any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval — we did not approve any transfer.”

Robinhood says its OpenAI stock tokens are “enabled by Robinhood's ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle.”

“It is true that these are not technically equity,” Tenev, who co-founded Robinhood in 2013 with fellow entrepreneur Baiju Bhatt, told CNBC's “Squawk Box Europe” Tuesday, echoing his initial response to OpenAI's concerns.

Tenev said that OpenAI's complex company structure enables institutional investors to gain exposure to the company through “various instruments, like equity upon the event of a conversion to a for-profit at a later date.”

OpenAI was initially founded as a non-profit organization. However, it has since evolved to include a for-profit entity, which is owned by the non-profit.

“In and of itself, I don't think it's entirely relevant that it's not technically an equity instrument,” he said. “What's important is that retail customers have an opportunity to get exposure to this asset” — even if it's a private company — due to the disruptive nature of AI, he added.

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On Monday, the Bank of Lithuania, which is Robinhood's lead authority in the European Union, told CNBC it was “awaiting clarifications” regarding the structure of the company's stock tokens following OpenAI's statement last week.

“Only after receiving and evaluating this information will we be able to assess the legality and compliance of these specific instruments,” Bank of Lithuania spokesman Giedrius Šniukas told CNBC. “The information for investors must be provided in clear, fair, and non-misleading language.”

Tenev said in response to the Lithuanian regulator's comments that Robinhood is “happy to continue to answer questions from our regulators.”

“Since this is a new thing, regulators are going to want to look at it, and we've built this program in a way that we believe will withstand scrutiny — and we expect to be scrutinized as a large, innovative player in this space,” he told CNBC.