According to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report published Monday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is asking investment companies to prove that their products actually hold the private-company shares they claim to offer.
The inquiry comes as investors seek exposure to high-profile artificial intelligence companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic through private-market funds and, increasingly, blockchain-based investment products. It raises a fundamental question: does the promised investment really exist?
Reuters, citing the WSJ report, said the SEC has asked registered investment advisers to demonstrate that the special purpose vehicles (SPVs) they oversee actually own, or have exposure to, the shares they promote. Reuters said it was unable to independently verify the report. The reported SEC examination does not target any specific firm.
Why SPV scrutiny matters for AI investments
SPVs pool money from investors to acquire stakes in private companies, giving outside investors access to businesses whose shares are not publicly traded. In recent years, they have become a popular way to invest in the artificial intelligence boom.
According to a Cryptopolitan report published August 27 and based on DeFiLlama’s pre-IPO valuations tab, Anthropic and OpenAI ranked first and second among 182 companies, with estimated valuations of $1.38 trillion and $900.29 billion, respectively.
Source: Cryptopolitan, citing DeFiLlama’s pre-IPO tracker snapshot reported August 27, 2026. These are estimated private-market valuations, not official company funding valuations.
The sums involved are substantial. Stanford’s AI Index for 2026 reported that global private investment in artificial intelligence increased 127.5% in 2025 to $344.7 billion, including $170.9 billion invested in generative AI. As capital continues to flow into private AI companies, proving exactly what an investment buys is becoming increasingly important.
OpenAI and Anthropic warn about unauthorized equity exposure
Companies are already taking steps to police their own equity. OpenAI has warned investors about unauthorized opportunities to gain exposure to its shares. In its equity-transfer notice, the company says it is “aware of firms that market unauthorized opportunities to gain exposure to OpenAI,” including through direct equity sales, SPV interests, tokenized interests and forward contracts.
OpenAI also warns that unauthorized transactions may leave investors with an interest that:
“will not be recognized and carry no economic value to you.”— OpenAI, Unauthorized OpenAI Equity Transactions
Anthropic has issued a similar warning, stating that transfers involving its stock require board approval and that it does not allow SPVs to acquire Anthropic stock. In both cases, an SPV’s claim that it has access to a company’s shares does not necessarily mean that the underlying exposure is valid.
SEC case highlights risks in pre-IPO investments
The SEC has already brought a case illustrating how investors can be misled. On August 10, 2026, the agency charged Adit Ventures Management, CEO Eric Munson and three affiliated general partners with allegedly defrauding investors in connection with pre-IPO holdings, including stakes in SpaceX and Klarna.
The SEC alleged that Munson falsely told an investor that a fund owned shares in a private company when it did not. The complaint also alleges that the defendants resold pre-IPO shares to client funds at inflated prices, misrepresented costs, collected millions of dollars in unauthorized fees and pledged client assets to support a $10 million credit line.
“That misconduct has no place in investment advisory relationships where clients count on investment advisers being their fiduciaries.” — Corey A. Schuster, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit
Without admitting the allegations, the defendants consented to judgments subject to court approval. The proposed resolutions include disgorgement, civil penalties and, for Munson, an associational bar with the right to seek reentry after three years.
Tokenized private-company investments add further risk
The issue also extends to cryptocurrency markets as exposure to private companies increasingly moves onchain. Cryptopolitan reported in April that OpenAI’s implied valuation exceeded $1 trillion through onchain pre-IPO instruments backed 1:1 by SPV exposure on Jupiter.
Tokenization does not resolve the underlying ownership question. Instead, it can distribute the same claim across a larger number of investors.
In a January 28, 2026 statement concerning tokenized securities, SEC divisions said that moving a security onchain:
“does not affect application of the federal securities laws.”— SEC Divisions of Corporation Finance, Investment Management, and Trading and Markets
The next key questions are whether the reported examinations lead to enforcement actions and whether products linked to major AI companies become specific targets. For investors, the issue is straightforward: can the firm selling the exposure prove that it owns what it claims to own?
