Following a playbook that has been in play for several decades now, OpenAI has announced the surprise acquisition of TBPN (Technology Business Programming Network), a fast-rising daily live talk show focused on technology, business, AI, and defense, marking the AI company’s first major foray into media ownership. Following which playbook you ask? The same playbook wherein corporates basically look to buy influence by acquiring media outlets — in this case a talk show.
The deal brings the show’s 11-person team (including co-hosts and co-founders John Coogan and Jordi Hays) into the ChatGPT-parent to support communications, marketing, and broader public engagement around AI. The TBPN team will operate under OpenAI’s Strategy organization and report to Chris Lehane, the company’s chief global affairs officer.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but TBPN generated roughly $5 million in advertising revenue last year and was on track to exceed $30 million this year, according to media reports. The show averages about 70,000 viewers per episode and has built a loyal following in Silicon Valley through candid interviews with high-profile guests. Past interviewees include OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Palantir CEO Alex Karp, and partners from Andreessen Horowitz.
“I’m excited to share that we’ve acquired TBPN. This acquisition brings a team with strong editorial instincts, deep audience understanding, and a proven ability to convene influential voices across tech, business, and culture,” OpenAI wrote in an official statement. “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. We’re not a typical company. We’re driving a really big technological shift. And with our mission to ensure artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity 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. That’s exactly what TBPN has built. So rather than trying to recreate that ourselves, it made a lot of sense to bring them in, support what they’re doing, and help them scale—while keeping what makes them special. A core part of this is editorial independence. TBPN will continue to run their programming, choose their guests, and make their own editorial decisions. That’s foundational to their credibility, and it’s something we’re explicitly protecting as part of this agreement,” it added.
To provide some context, launched two years ago by entrepreneurs Coogan and Hays, TBPN quickly gained traction as an insider-driven platform for tech and business discourse. Coogan previously co-founded the food-tech brand Soylent, popular among tech workers, while Hays founded Party Round, a platform helping startups raise capital, and earlier ran a YouTube advertising network. The show positions itself as a “Sports Center for tech,” blending news, analysis, and conversations in a live format to catch the eye of founders, investors, and executives in Silicon Valley.
Its growth coincided with the explosive expansion of the AI sector. Guests have included leaders from across the industry, creating a venue where informed conversations and discussions occur among peers. This development also comes recently after the ChatGPT-maker closed a massive $122 billion funding round at an $852 billion valuation. The company is also streamlining operations, recently discontinuing its Sora video generator to redirect resources toward enterprise and coding tools, and developing a unified desktop “Super App” integrating ChatGPT, Codex, and its browser. TBPN offers a daily, live, interactive format with broad reach in tech circles. The acquisition could help OpenAI counter narratives from competitors, amplify positive developments, and engage builders directly.