OpenAI Buys Some Positive News

OpenAI announced Thursday that it had acquired the online business talk show TBPN for an undisclosed sum. The move comes as OpenAI struggles with its public image, which has taken a significant hit in recent months.

Since launching in 2024, TBPN has risen in popularity among Silicon Valley circles by offering a daily livestream about the technology industry that’s seen as more tech-friendly than traditional outlets. The show's two hosts, John Coogan and Jordi Hays, offer real-time commentary on breaking news, cycle through viral social media posts, and interview executives from companies including Meta, Salesforce, Palantir, and OpenAI. It’s become especially popular among OpenAI staff and other AI researchers, many of whom are addicted to the social media platform X.

It’s hard to understand how a media startup fits into OpenAI’s core businesses selling ChatGPT, Codex, and a new super app the company is developing to consumers and enterprises. In March, OpenAI’s CEO of applications, Fidji Simo, told staff in an all-hands meeting that the company needed to cancel its side projects and refocus around its core businesses.

In a memo to staff announcing the acquisition, Simo said the typical communications playbook does not apply to OpenAI. “We're not a typical company,” she said in the memo, which was also published 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.”

TBPN is a small business compared to OpenAI. The media firm says it generated $5 million in ad revenue last year and was on track to make more than $30 million in revenue in 2026, according to The Wall Street Journal. The show reportedly reaches around 70,000 viewers per episode across a variety of platforms. A source close to OpenAI says the company doesn’t expect TBPN to contribute financially to the business, though it will help with OpenAI’s communications strategy.

OpenAI has fallen under increased public scrutiny in recent months. After the company signed a deal with the Department of Defense in February, Anthropic’s Claude surged in downloads and claimed the top spot among Apple’s free apps. OpenAI’s leaders are also dealing with a growing QuitGPT movement, which is made up of people who vow to never use OpenAI’s products. OpenAI president Greg Brockman cited AI’s popularity issues as a core reason for his increased political spending.

The acquisition makes OpenAI the latest Silicon Valley player to try owning and operating a news business. In recent decades, there have been several notable examples of technology leaders purchasing media firms, including Jeff Bezos buying The Washington Post, Marc Benioff buying Time magazine, and Robinhood buying the newsletter company MarketSnacks. In each case, the acquisitions raised immediate questions about whether the outlets would remain truly independent. In her memo, Simo told staff that TBPN will retain editorial independence.

“TBPN is my favorite tech show. We want them to keep that going and for them to do what they do so well,” said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in a post on X. “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.”

OpenAI said TBPN will continue to “run their programming, choose their guests, and make their own editorial decisions,” according to Simo’s memo. The company also said that TBPN will report directly to OpenAI’s VP of global affairs, Chris Lehane. WIRED previously reported how an economic research team under Lehane had struggled to report on AI’s negative impacts on the 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, cofounder and host of TBPN, in a statement. “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.”

This TBPN deal comes just a week after OpenAI shuttered its AI social video product, Sora, as part of the company’s broader effort to focus its resources and leadership.