OpenAI adds a media company to the portfolio
OpenAI said Thursday that it has acquired TBPN, the online business talk show that has become a favorite in Silicon Valley, for an undisclosed amount. The timing is not subtle. The company has been dealing with a series of reputation problems, and this purchase gives it something it clearly values these days: a better conversation around itself.
Since launching in 2024, TBPN has built a loyal following by streaming daily coverage of the tech industry in a format that is, by most accounts, far friendlier to the sector than the traditional press tends to be. Hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hays comment on breaking news as it happens, scroll through viral posts from social media, and interview executives from companies such as Meta, Salesforce, Palantir, and OpenAI. The show has also become especially popular with OpenAI employees and other AI researchers, many of whom are apparently spending a healthy amount of time on X.
Not exactly a core business, but here we are
It is not immediately obvious how a media startup fits into OpenAI’s main business, which still revolves around products like ChatGPT, Codex, and a new consumer and enterprise super app the company is developing. In March, OpenAI’s CEO of applications, Fidji Simo, told employees in an all-hands meeting that the company should cut back on side projects and refocus on its core operations. So naturally, the company then bought a media show. Corporate strategy remains a living thing.
In a memo to staff announcing the acquisition, Simo said OpenAI does not operate like a standard company. “We're not a typical company,” she wrote in the memo, which was also posted as a blog. “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.”
The company’s logic is that TBPN will help with communications, even if it does not become a revenue engine. A source close to OpenAI said the company does not expect the show to contribute financially.
A small show, a big company, and some useful numbers
By OpenAI’s standards, TBPN is tiny. According to The Wall Street Journal, the media firm said it brought in $5 million in advertising revenue last year and was on pace to exceed $30 million in revenue in 2026. The show reportedly reaches about 70,000 viewers per episode across multiple platforms.
That audience is small compared with OpenAI’s own scale, but it is sizable in the niche world of tech commentary, where being part news desk and part group chat can apparently build a business.
OpenAI’s image problem keeps getting louder
The acquisition comes as OpenAI faces more scrutiny than usual, which is saying something for a company that has spent recent years living at the center of the AI boom. After OpenAI signed a deal with the Department of Defense in February, Anthropic’s Claude saw a jump in downloads and briefly took the top spot among Apple’s free apps. OpenAI leaders are also contending with a growing QuitGPT movement, made up of people who have pledged never to use OpenAI products.
OpenAI president Greg Brockman has pointed to AI’s popularity problems as one reason the company has increased its political spending. Apparently, winning the technology race is one thing. Winning public affection is another.
Editorial independence, with a corporate parent nearby
The move also puts OpenAI in a long line of tech companies and executives who decided the best way to shape media criticism was to buy a media company. Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post. Marc Benioff bought Time. Robinhood bought the newsletter company MarketSnacks. Each deal prompted the same unavoidable question: can an outlet stay independent once the owner has a stake in the headlines?
Simo said in her memo that TBPN would remain editorially independent. OpenAI said the show will continue to run its own programming, choose its own guests, and make its own editorial decisions. At the same time, the company said TBPN will report to Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s vice president of global affairs. Lehane previously led an economic research team that WIRED reported had struggled to publish work on AI’s negative effects on the economy.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also took to X to endorse the arrangement. “TBPN is my favorite tech show. We want them to keep that going and for them to do what they do so well,” he wrote. “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.”
TBPN says the industry story has changed
In a statement, Jordi Hays said the show has spent the past year getting a close look at OpenAI and the wider AI ecosystem.
“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,” Hays said. “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 deal arrives just one week after OpenAI shut down Sora, its AI social video product, as part of a broader effort to concentrate resources and leadership. So yes, the company is narrowing its focus while also buying a media outlet. In tech, this kind of contradiction is often called a plan.
