OpenAI buys Sam Altman favourite tech show TBPN, internet calls it PR move
Follow UsOpenAI has acquired the popular tech talk show TBPN.
The show will now operate under OpenAI’s strategy team and report to the company’s chief political operative, Chris Lehane.
Despite the acquisition, TBPN will continue to operate as its own brand.
OpenAI has acquired the popular tech talk show Technology Business Programming Network (TBPN), marking the company’s first-ever acquisition of a media platform. The show will now operate under OpenAI’s strategy team and report to the company’s chief political operative, Chris Lehane. Despite the acquisition, TBPN will continue to operate as its own brand.
SurveyTBPN, hosted by former tech founders John Coogan and Jordi Hays, is a daily live show that runs for about three hours on YouTube and X. The program focuses on discussions around technology, business, AI and defense, and has built a strong following within Silicon Valley. Even top executives, such as Mark Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have appeared on the show to talk about industry developments, react to major news and share insights.
OpenAI’s head of AGI deployment, Fidji Simo, says the acquisition will bring TBPN’s ‘amazing comms and marketing instincts to the team.’ ‘I can’t wait to leverage their talent outside of the show to innovate on how we bring AI to the world in a way that helps people understand the full impact of this technology on their daily lives.’
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Simo also emphasised that TBPN will have editorial independence and continue to ‘run their programming, choose their guests, and make their own editorial decisions.’
The deal has also raised some questions since TBPN often discusses OpenAI and its competitors, with some users on X calling it a PR move by the AI company. However, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appears confident the show will remain honest about the company. In a post on X, Atlman said that TBPN is his favourite tech show. He further added, ‘I don’t expect them to go any easier on us, am sure I’ll do my part to help enable that with occasional stupid decisions.’
