OpenAI Acquires Popular Tech Talk Show TBPN Amid Growing Public Backlash, Vows Editorial Independence
On Thursday, AI developer OpenAI announced it has purchased TBPN, the viral online business and tech talk show, in an acquisition for which all financial terms remain undisclosed. The deal comes as OpenAI works to repair its badly damaged public image, which has taken a major hit over the past several months.
Launched in 2024, TBPN has quickly carved out a massive following in Silicon Valley circles with its daily livestream coverage of the tech industry, widely seen as far more sympathetic to technology innovation than reporting from legacy traditional media outlets. Hosted by co-founders John Coogan and Jordi Hays, the show offers real-time analysis of breaking tech news, breakdowns of trending social media content, and interviews with C-suite leaders from top firms including Meta, Salesforce, Palantir, and OpenAI itself. It has developed a particularly loyal audience among OpenAI employees and other AI researchers, the large majority of whom are active daily users of the social platform X.
The buyout initially raises questions about how a small media startup aligns with OpenAI’s core business, which centers on selling consumer and enterprise access to ChatGPT, Codex, and the company’s unlaunched super app. Back in March, Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of Applications, told all employees at an internal all-hands meeting that the company would cancel all non-core side projects to refocus its full efforts on core business priorities.
In an internal memo announcing the acquisition that was later published publicly as a company blog post, Simo argued that standard corporate communications playbooks do not apply to OpenAI. “We're not a typical company,” she wrote. “We're driving a really big technological shift. And with the mission of bringing AGI to the world comes a responsibility to help create a space for a real, constructive conversation about the changes AI creates—with builders and people using the technology at the center.”
TBPN is a small operation compared to OpenAI’s billion-dollar business. Per reporting from The Wall Street Journal, the media firm generated $5 million in ad revenue last year and was on track to hit more than $30 million in annual revenue by 2026. The show draws roughly 70,000 viewers per episode across all streaming platforms. A source close to OpenAI confirmed the company does not expect TBPN to contribute meaningful revenue to its bottom line; instead, the acquisition is intended to strengthen OpenAI’s overall communications strategy.
OpenAI has faced intensifying public scrutiny and backlash in recent months. After the company signed a controversial partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense in February, downloads of Anthropic’s rival AI chatbot Claude surged, pushing Claude to the top spot on Apple’s list of most-downloaded free apps. OpenAI’s leadership is also contending with the growing QuitGPT movement, a grassroots coalition of users who have pledged to permanently stop using OpenAI’s products. OpenAI president Greg Brockman has already cited growing reputational challenges for AI as a core reason for his recent increase in political spending.
This acquisition makes OpenAI the latest major Silicon Valley player to own and operate a media property. Over the past few decades, several high-profile tech leaders have purchased media firms, including Jeff Bezos’ acquisition of The Washington Post, Marc Benioff’s purchase of Time magazine, and Robinhood’s buyout of financial newsletter publisher MarketSnacks. Every one of these deals immediately sparked widespread questions about whether the acquired outlets could retain true editorial independence. In her memo, Simo moved to address these concerns by confirming TBPN will keep full editorial autonomy.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman echoed that commitment in a post on X, writing: “TBPN is my favorite tech show. We want them to keep that going and for them to do what they do so well. I don't expect them to go any easier on us, [and I] am sure I'll do my part to help enable that with occasional stupid decisions.”
Per Simo’s memo, TBPN will continue to “run their programming, choose their guests, and make their own editorial decisions” moving forward. However, the TBPN team will report directly to Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s Vice President of Global Affairs. WIRED previously reported that an internal economic research team under Lehane’s leadership faced significant internal barriers when attempting to publish research on AI’s negative impacts on the global economy.
“Over the past year, we’ve had a front-row seat not just to OpenAI but to the entire ecosystem, covering the daily news, announcements, and launches in real time,” said Jordi Hays, TBPN co-founder and co-host, in a public statement on the deal. “While we’ve been critical of the industry at times, after getting to know Sam and the OpenAI team, what stood out most was their openness to feedback and commitment to getting this right. Moving from commentary to real impact in how this technology is distributed and understood globally is incredibly important to us.”
The TBPN acquisition comes just one week after OpenAI shut down Sora, its experimental AI social video product, as part of a broader company-wide push to consolidate resources and refocus leadership on core business priorities.
