Robinhood investing app lets everyday Americans buy into OpenAI — but Bank of America warns there are no 'ground rules to protect them'

Eric EspositoSat, April 25, 2026 at 11:05 AM UTC

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A cell phone displaying the OpenAI logo.

With its current valuation of $852 billion (1), the privately-owned OpenAI has been a mega winner for a select crowd of investors. But a recent deal with one retail-friendly brokerage has opened up access to ChatGPT's creator.

In a recent press release (2), Robinhood says it purchased $75 million of OpenAI's common stock to add to its publicly-traded Robinhood Ventures Fund I (NYSE: RVI). That means anyone who buys RVI shares today gets a piece of Robinhood's latest OpenAI stockpile.

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Sarah Pinto, President of Robinhood Ventures Fund I, said in the press release that this $75 million investment is the largest to date for RVI, adding that it "underscores our core mission to provide everyday investors with access to what we believe are transformative companies shaping the future."

This, however, isn't the first time Robinhood tried to make OpenAI more accessible to non-accredited traders. Controversially, this brokerage began experimenting with virtual tokens representing OpenAI shares in 2025, according to Business Insider (3). Once OpenAI caught wind of this unofficial offering, it quickly responded on X.

"We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it," OpenAI wrote in its post on X (4). "Any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval — we did not approve any transfer. Please be careful."

With this $75 million stock deal, Robinhood appears to be moving toward a more traditional route, serving as an intermediary between retail and the private market.

The tradeoff is that retail traders still won't get undiluted access to OpenAI. RVI is a closed-end fund that includes many other startups, such as Mercor, Oura and Stripe. Although OpenAI is now RVI's largest holding, the price per share won't exactly mimic OpenAI's value on the private market.

The public-private market access gap

Products like Robinhood's RVI provide a way into the private market, but statistics suggest it's getting harder for retail investors to snatch up hot startups.

Data from World Bank Group shows that the number of U.S.-listed domestic companies has been steadily declining from over 8,000 in 1996 to under 4,000 in 2025 (5).

Research from the investment firm HarbourVest estimates that the private and VC-backed markets have 25 times more companies than the public market, which means retail investors have fewer opportunities to put their money into thousands of potential mega-growth engines (6).​

Plus, as companies stay private for longer, they might reach valuations in the billions or even trillions behind closed doors.

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As stories of billion-plus funding rounds break, it's no wonder retail investors feel unfairly blocked out of today's greatest opportunities, including OpenAI (7). But some financial experts point out that the private market has its perils.

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Just how profitable is the private market?

In an interview with the New York Times (8), Bank of America's global strategist Haim Israel admitted that, "A lot of the innovation is actually being focused in the private market, and not the public market, and investors in the retail market are missing out." But Israel warned that there are no "ground rules to protect" retail investors in this space.

Although it can feel restrictive, the public market has a well-defined rulebook with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that provides high transparency. The private market, however, is another beast. Companies can be more choosy about what they disclose, which makes it harder to know exactly what you're investing in.

The relative lack of rules isn't just about safety. Practically speaking, it makes it harder to trade shares with imprecise pricing and lower liquidity. Even though the private market holds about $10 trillion in value, that's peanuts compared to the public market's roughly $87 trillion, according to HarbourVest (9).

There's even debate over whether the private market truly offers better returns than a tried-and-true S&P 500 ETF.

Sure, if you catch a market leader like OpenAI in its infancy, your portfolio could skyrocket. But overall, data from Hamilton Lane found that the 10-year rolling time-weighted returns for the private market were actually lower than the S&P 500 in 2025 (10).

While it's only human to get jealous of the opportunities VC firms have, just know that things aren't necessarily greener on the private equity pasture.

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Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

OpenAI (1),(7); Robinhood (2); Business Insider (3); X (4); World Bank Group (5); HarbourVest (6),(9); The New York Times (8); Hamilton Lane (10).

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Money”