OpenAI has acquired TBPN, the Technology Business Programming Network, a daily live tech talk show. The deal marks OpenAI’s first acquisition of a media company. TBPN will be housed within OpenAI’s strategy organization and report to Chris Lehane, the company’s chief political operative.
What’s TBPN?
TBPN launched in late 2024 and airs weekdays from 11 AM to 2 PM PT on YouTube and X. The show covers tech, business, AI, crypto, startups and the defense industry. The New York Times has described it as “Silicon Valley’s newest obsession.”
TBPN has attracted sponsorships in the past from fintech companies Ramp and Plaid, Google’s Gemini and New York Stock Exchange. The show generated roughly $5 million in advertising revenue in 2025, with a projected $30 million + estimate this year.
OpenAI did not disclose the financial terms. Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s head of AGI deployment, said the following:
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.
He added that standard communications playbook does not apply to a company driving a technological shift of this scale. She said TBPN brings strong editorial instincts, deep audience understanding and a proven ability to bring together influential voices across tech, business and culture. She added that OpenAI will also tap the founders’ communications and marketing expertise outside the show.
What’s Going to Change?
OpenAI said TBPN will maintain editorial independence, continue choosing its own guests and make its own editorial decisions. Altman wrote on X that TBPN is his favorite tech show and that he does not expect the hosts to go easier on the company after the acquisition.
The show’s two hosts and co-founders, Jordi Hays and John Coogan, have had some of tech’s biggest names in studio over the course of the show. Some of these names include OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, entrepreneur Mark Cuban and Salesforce’s Marc Benioff.
Co-founder Hays wrote on LinkedIn that TBPN’s core audience is roughly 200,000 founders, executives and key players in tech and finance, a small but influential group that overlaps heavily with OpenAI’s investor and enterprise customer base.
The acquisition has drawn scrutiny, particularly with OpenAI eyeing a potential IPO later this year. Owning a media platform that regularly features the company’s own CEO and competitors raises questions about editorial credibility, even with independence guarantees in place. However, nothing much is expected to change in the format of the livestream talk show.
