OpenAI announced the acquisition of the technology news podcast TBPN on Thursday. According to OpenAI, the acquisition brings a specialised editorial team into the company’s internal strategy organisation to foster broader discussions regarding the impact of AI.
“TBPN is my favourite tech show. We want them to keep that going and for them to do what they do so well. 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,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI on X.
Fidji Simo, CEO of Applications at OpenAI, confirmed the acquisition in a message to the company, noting that the acquisition integrates a team with “deep audience understanding and a proven ability to convene influential voices across the sectors of technology, business, and culture.”
The TBPN podcast, hosted by Jordi Hays and John Coogan, has established itself as a primary venue for daily conversations centered on AI and the builder community.
Simo highlighted that the standard communications playbook does not apply to OpenAI’s current trajectory.
“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,” Simo stated.
Instead of recreating such a platform internally, OpenAI opted to support and scale the existing infrastructure built by TBPN.
Under the terms of the agreement, TBPN will maintain editorial independence. The show will continue to manage its own programming, select its guests, and make independent editorial decisions. Simo described this independence as “foundational to the credibility” of the show and confirmed that protecting this autonomy is an explicit part of the acquisition agreement
“This is a full circle moment for me as I’ve worked with @sama for well over a decade. He funded my first company in 2013. Then helped us fix a serious logjam during a critical funding round a few years later. When I took my second company through YC, he was president at the time, and then when I joined Founders Fund, the first deal I saw in motion was the post-ChatGPT round in late 2022. And as we started growing TBPN last year, he was the very first lab lead to join the show,” John Coogan, Host of TBPN, said.
Beyond the podcast itself, OpenAI intends to leverage the team’s marketing and communication instincts to innovate how the company introduces AI to the global public. The TBPN team will sit within the Strategy organisation at OpenAI and will report to Chris Lehane.
“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. 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,” said Jordi Hays, co-founder and co-host of TBPN.
