Robinhood has taken a US$75 million stake in ChatGPT maker OpenAI through its investment vehicle, Robinhood Ventures Fund I (RVI), the retail brokerage said on Wednesday.
The fund, which was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in March, offers retail investors exposure to a basket of private technology firms that used to be the preserve of venture capital investors.
“OpenAI is one of the frontier artificial intelligence companies, and we are incredibly proud to add them to the Fund,” said Sarah Pinto, President of RVI.
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Existing holdings include Stripe, Databricks, Revolut and ElevenLabs. The OpenAI position is among the vehicle’s largest to date, which Pinto framed as underscoring its ambition to give retail investors access to firms typically confined to private markets.
Nonetheless, in the context of OpenAI’s recent funding rounds – most recently in March, reportedly valuing the company at US $122bn – the investment is modest.
A Bigger Slice for Retail Investors
The move hints at a thaw in relations. In July 2025, OpenAI publicly rebuked Robinhood over its “stock tokens” in Europe, arguing they did not constitute real equity, lacked approval and implied a partnership that did not exist.
Robinhood’s CEO, Vlad Tenev, defended the tokenised instruments as legitimate derivatives; the platform also offered tokenised exposure to SpaceX.
Nonetheless, the move reflects a growing appetite among retail investors for exposure to private tech companies, especially as artificial intelligence continues to dominate market narratives.
Taking it a step further, Elon Musk announced that the SpaceX listing will include up to 30% IPO allocation to retail investors, an unusually large slice for a cohort that was historically crowded out from early public access.
The move also coincides with a structural shift: technology firms are staying private for longer. By delaying initial public offerings, they can raise successive private rounds, retain tighter control and avoid volatile market debuts.
