Robinhood Ventures invests $75 million in OpenAI through its retail fund

Robinhood's proprietary investment vehicle for retail investors has taken a small stake in privately held OpenAI, the trading company announced Wednesday.

The Robinhood Ventures Fund I (RVI), which provides investors with exposure to several private tech companies, invested $75 million in the artificial intelligence giant. The fund went public and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange this March.

"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 Robinhood Ventures Fund I, in a statement. "As one of RVI's largest investments to date, this underscores our core mission to provide everyday investors with access to what we believe are transformative companies shaping the future."

The stake is relatively small compared with OpenAI's massive multibillion-dollar funding rounds, though still a meaningful position that provides exposure to one of the most influential players in artificial intelligence.

This move follows a high-profile spat between the two companies. Last summer, the ChatGPT company and its founder Sam Altman publicly pushed back on Robinhood's plans to offer "tokenized" equity, saying stock tokens do not represent equity in the company, after Robinhood began offering tokenized shares of OpenAI and SpaceX to users in Europe.

It also highlights the surge in retail investor appetite for exposure to leading AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI, as excitement around artificial intelligence continues to dominate markets.

The demand is amplified by the broader trend of high-growth tech firms staying private longer – delaying IPOs to raise massive private funding rounds, maintain control of the company, and grow without public market pressure – making early access highly sought after among retail investors.

The Robinhood fund also holds stakes in Databricks, Revolut and Oura.