OpenAI just bought TBPN | The Verge

OpenAI has purchased TBPN, the viral online talk show that often interviews AI executives and other tech leaders. The show — which goes live every weekday, often for a three-hour duration — considers channels like Bloomberg and CNBC as its competition and counts OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, as well as executives from Meta, Microsoft, Palantir, and Andreessen Horowitz, among its past guests.

TBPN host John Coogan wrote on X that the show will be “staying the same.” He added, “This is a full circle moment for me as I’ve worked with [OpenAI CEO Sam Altman] for well over a decade. He funded my first company in 2013 … We’re excited to have more resources than ever going forward.”

TBPN’s views averages about 70,000 viewers per episode, and it generated more than $5 million in advertising revenue this year, with projections to draw in more than $30 million in 2026 revenue, according to The Wall Street Journal.

OpenAI’s reasoning for purchasing the show involved “accelerating the global conversation around AI,” according to a company blog post, which includes a memo sent Thursday by Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of AGI deployment. Simo wrote, “As I’ve been thinking about the future of how we communicate at OpenAI, one thing that’s become clear is that the standard communications playbook just doesn’t apply to us … 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.”

The TBPN team will help with OpenAI’s corporate comms and marketing, but Simo wrote that it will still retain “editorial independence” with regards to running programming and choosing guests. The team will operate under OpenAI’s Strategy organization and report to its VP of global policy, Chris Lehane.

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