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Robin Hood’s A proprietary investment vehicle for retail investors has made a small investment in privately held OpenAI, the trading company announced Wednesday.
of Robinhood Ventures Fund I (RVI)The company, which provides investors with exposure to several privately held tech companies, has invested $75 million in the artificial intelligence giant. The fund went public in March of this year and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
“OpenAI is one of the leading artificial intelligence companies, and we are very proud to add them to our fund,” Sara Pinto, president of Robinhood Ventures Fund I, said in a statement. “This is one of RVI’s largest investments to date, and it underscores our core mission of providing everyday investors with access to the innovative companies we believe will shape the future.”
While this investment is relatively small compared to OpenAI’s massive multi-billion dollar funding round, it is still a significant position with exposure to one of the most influential players in the field of artificial intelligence.
Robinhood Ventures Fund I
The move follows a high-profile dispute between the two companies. Last summer, after Robinhood began offering tokenized shares of OpenAI and SpaceX to European users, ChatGPT and its founder Sam Altman publicly backed away from Robinhood’s plans to offer “tokenized” shares, saying the stock tokens do not represent the company’s shares.
It also highlights a surge in retail investors’ appetite for exposure to big AI companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI, as excitement around artificial intelligence continues to dominate the market.
This demand is amplified by a broader trend of high-growth technology companies going private for longer periods of time, making early access highly sought after among retail investors as they delay IPOs in order to raise large private financing rounds, maintain control of the company, and grow without public market pressures.
Robinhood funds also own stakes in Databricks, Revolut, and Oura.
