OpenAI Acquires TBPN:  🔗 **Source:** [OpenAI Acquires TBPN:](https://share.snipd.com/episode/9c3228bd-6e23-4364-be29-45c9feac183c) ## Highlights - **OpenAI Bought A Live Insider Tech Platform** - OpenAI bought TBPN not for classic journalism but for a fast, insider-driven live tech platform. - TBPN runs daily three-hour livestreams with founders and execs offering candid, real-time reactions that attract Silicon Valley insiders. Transcript: Other Speaker So what's interesting here is OpenAI has just acquired TBPN. And basically when they bought this, a lot of people were worried. They're like, oh no, OpenAI is just buying this media company. They're going to tell them what to do. It's going to change the direction. Apparently the show is going to report directly to OpenAI's chief political operator, which is Chris Leggin. And I think this is not really a content play. It's kind of a communications expansion. The hosts, which were some former tech founders, John Coogan and Jordy Hayes, it basically built its reputation on it. They would do these like daily three hour. They would do. They still do these daily three hour live format kind of streams. They stream on X and YouTube, and they basically do deep dives into tech, business, AI, and they also do defense. And oftentimes, they're kind of reacting in real time to things that are happening. So, right, they're doing the live stream, something happens on X, and they're kind of talking about it. They also layer some of their insider perspectives that I think you don't typically get from a lot of traditional media because they were founders and they've actually been working In this space. And over the past year, they basically evolved into, there's kind of this cult following in Silicon Valley. It's a lot of different founders and operators and executives. They will come there and they'll basically like, I don't know, they speak pretty candidly. They challenge each other. And sometimes they're, you know, they're saying like the quiet part out loud basically on the show. I think that's what a lot of people like about it. Now, I think it has earned comparisons to kind of like SportsCenter, but ([Time 0:01:26](https://share.snipd.com/snip/c5515636-85a3-451b-a45e-7d6d6df8388c)) - **TBPN's Cult Following Fueled By Big Tech Guests** - TBPN built a cult following by hosting founders, operators, and execs who speak candidly and challenge each other on live streams. - High-profile guests like Mark Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella, Marc Benioff, and Sam Altman have appeared, boosting credibility and viewership. Transcript: Other Speaker And over the past year, they basically evolved into, there's kind of this cult following in Silicon Valley. It's a lot of different founders and operators and executives. They will come there and they'll basically like, I don't know, they speak pretty candidly. They challenge each other. And sometimes they're, you know, they're saying like the quiet part out loud basically on the show. I think that's what a lot of people like about it. Now, I think it has earned comparisons to kind of like SportsCenter, but it's for tech, and you see people like Mark Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella, Mark Benioff, Sam Altman, all of them Have come on the show before, and they're kind of breaking down some of the headlines, right? Some crazy thing happens with OpenAI, you have Sam Altman on there. And I think it's interesting because you get their perspective as their tech founders grilling, not really grilling, right? It's not really very combative, I think, which is another thing that people actually like about it, but they're asking them about what's going on. Despite the acquisition, though, because some people are like, oh, no, OpenAI is buying them, they're going to tell them what to say. Apparently, TBPN is going to continue to operate under its own brand, so at least publicly, and then it's going to have OpenAI stepping in to help them scale the distribution. So it's, you know, it's still its own company, but OpenAI probably is going to throw ads at it to help it grow and do a bunch of other things for kind of its reach and production. And I mean, not that it, you know, some people are like, well, it doesn't really need it. It's kind of organically growing. And yes, but like, for example, if you go search for the AI chat podcast, my podcast on Google, right above it, you're going to see an ad for NVIDIA's like AI podcast. So you can, there's a lot you can do to grow. NVIDIA obviously is growing their podcast by putting ads on top of my show. ([Time 0:02:25](https://share.snipd.com/snip/28146450-e27f-48ab-a36a-1ddba65b9639)) - **Editorial Independence Paired With OpenAI Distribution** - OpenAI will let TBPN keep its brand and editorial control publicly while using OpenAI resources to scale distribution. - The deal likely includes ad and production support to rapidly grow TBPN's reach without overtly changing its tone. Transcript: Other Speaker Apparently, TBPN is going to continue to operate under its own brand, so at least publicly, and then it's going to have OpenAI stepping in to help them scale the distribution. So it's, you know, it's still its own company, but OpenAI probably is going to throw ads at it to help it grow and do a bunch of other things for kind of its reach and production. And I mean, not that it, you know, some people are like, well, it doesn't really need it. It's kind of organically growing. And yes, but like, for example, if you go search for the AI chat podcast, my podcast on Google, right above it, you're going to see an ad for NVIDIA's like AI podcast. So you can, there's a lot you can do to grow. NVIDIA obviously is growing their podcast by putting ads on top of my show. And I mean, we all, you know, I'm sure that I get, I get listens from people looking for their AI show, finding my show. So, you know, it's, it's all an ecosystem for sure, but there's a lot of ways you can grow. ([Time 0:03:20](https://share.snipd.com/snip/29a282b0-2995-4029-87b4-bc3bfb4f5264)) - **TBPN Was A Rapidly Growing Revenue Machine** - TBPN was already on pace for strong revenue with about $5M last year and projected $30M this year, making it a commercially valuable asset. - OpenAI's content efforts include long-form podcasts, but TBPN offers a loud, fast daily format that complements those efforts. Transcript: Other Speaker According to the wall street journal, they were already on pace to generate more than $30 million in revenue this year. Apparently they did $5 million last year from, you know, advertisers, ad revenue on the platform. They have a bunch of sponsorships, they have some distribution. And I think right now, OpenAI is, you know, they have a lot of different content efforts. They're trying their own podcast, which is kind of focused on long, long-form conversations. They're bringing a bunch of builders inside their company to come talk on that. So I think, you know, OpenAI is getting their own podcast started and they're thinking, look, maybe this is a good, a good next move. I think it is a little bit different though, because, you know, TVPN, this is, it's very loud. It's very fast. It's very embedded into the day-to tech, right? I mean, like three hour live stream every single day. A lot of people watch this. OpenAI right now is planning to kind of go beyond just owning the show. They're also going to tap the founders, what they said, their quote, amazing comms and marketing instincts. So I think beyond just like, hey, we want to get like this kind of YouTube channel that does AI news, they want to grab those founders and they want to get their communications and their Communications instincts. According to Fidji Simo, who is leading this, she kind of emphasized that they're going to bring, quote, AI to the world in a way that helps people understand the full impact of this technology On their daily lives. ([Time 0:04:20](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9af0076c-f0fa-49cd-9e7d-9824156495c9)) - **Leverage TBPN To Translate AI For Everyday People** - Use TBPN founders' comms instincts to translate complex AI topics for broader audiences. - Fidji Simo frames TBPN as a bridge to help people understand AI's daily impact where standard PR fails. Transcript: Other Speaker They're also going to tap the founders, what they said, their quote, amazing comms and marketing instincts. So I think beyond just like, hey, we want to get like this kind of YouTube channel that does AI news, they want to grab those founders and they want to get their communications and their Communications instincts. According to Fidji Simo, who is leading this, she kind of emphasized that they're going to bring, quote, AI to the world in a way that helps people understand the full impact of this technology On their daily lives. I think she's basically positioning the show as kind of like a bridge between some of the complex AI systems and then kind of helping your average person understand what's going on because That's kind of what the company's been doing. And I think OpenAI knows that that is a sweet spot where their messaging needs to really thrive. So Simo like kind of was diving into that and she basically pointed out that TBPN style is really uniquely suited for a company like OpenAI where quote, the standard communications Playbook just doesn't apply. ([Time 0:05:08](https://share.snipd.com/snip/bfa44b4d-4bc8-4531-932b-500f14defc96)) - **TBPN Fills A Nontraditional Comms Role For OpenAI** - OpenAI positions TBPN to handle nontraditional communications where standard PR doesn't work for consequential tech. - TBPN will reportedly run its own program and pick guests while offering OpenAI a direct line into daily tech conversations. Transcript: Other Speaker But what they're trying to say, because I guess a lot of people were kind of worried about the editorial, quote unquote, independence of the company. They said that their team is still going to have, quote, is going to, quote, run their program, choose their guests and make their own editorial decisions. So even if OpenAI owns them, they're allowed to say whatever they want. And I was actually reading some tweets by the founders and they were like, look, sometimes we've been critical of OpenAI and we hope to still be critical of them and other people in the Future. But really, I think what they're trying to do or what they said they're interested in is helping to shape some of the decisions that are being made inside of the company. I think they know they get a bit more of a seat at the table. If they have the microphone, they're working inside of OpenAI, they're getting feedback from people. I think this is something ([Time 0:06:21](https://share.snipd.com/snip/88312efb-2b79-4515-b909-ff04644b6d7e)) - **Founders Seek Influence Not Just Platform Ownership** - TBPN founders expect to stay critical of OpenAI while gaining a seat at the table to influence how AI is distributed and regulated. - The founders said OpenAI's openness to feedback motivated them to move from commentary to direct impact. Transcript: Other Speaker I think once all this is finalized, TBPN is going to sit under OpenAI's strategy team. They're going to report to Lian, who's a longtime political strategist. He's kind of known for coining the phrase vast right-wing conspiracy during his time in the Clinton White House. And he's often described as a practitioner of the, political dark arts. That's from a that's from a quote from TechCrunch, which is pretty funny. But Lehman also played a big role in shaping a lot of the different political narratives inside of Washington. He was really instrumental behind a lot of the crypto industry, super PAC, fair shake, which spent really, really heavily in the 2024 election cycle to basically counter a lot of the Anti-crypto candidates. Since he joined OpenAI, he's also been reportedly very active in policy circles. He's advising Donald Trump on some AI-related issues from kind of limiting state-level AI regulation to easing environmental constraints around data center expansion. So I think for, you know, all it's concerned as far as Sam Altman goes, he doesn't seem very concerned about the optics. I think he did a social post and he called TVPN his favorite tech show and he made it clear that he expects the tone to remain unchanged. So he said, quote, I don't expect them to go any easier on us. ([Time 0:07:08](https://share.snipd.com/snip/d0bcbbf3-36ab-42c9-87af-77124f4efad2)) - **TBPN Embedded In OpenAI Strategy And Policy** - TBPN will sit under OpenAI's strategy team and report to a senior political operator, giving the show a direct link into policy and messaging. - That strategist, Leah [Lian], has deep political experience and has been active in shaping industry narratives. Transcript: Other Speaker Strategy team. They're going to report to Lian, who's a longtime political strategist. He's kind of known for coining the phrase vast right-wing conspiracy during his time in the Clinton White House. And he's often described as a practitioner of the, political dark arts. That's from a that's from a quote from TechCrunch, which is pretty funny. But Lehman also played a big role in shaping a lot of the different political narratives inside of Washington. He was really instrumental behind a lot of the crypto industry, super PAC, fair shake, which spent really, really heavily in the 2024 election cycle to basically counter a lot of the Anti-crypto candidates. Since he joined OpenAI, he's also been reportedly very active in policy circles. ([Time 0:07:12](https://share.snipd.com/snip/421a9201-2cd9-4e92-9061-8049f056f200)) - **Sam Altman Publicly Praises TBPN** - Sam Altman has appeared multiple times and publicly called TBPN his favorite tech show, signaling friendly ties despite concerns. - Altman joked he expects the show to remain critical and blamed himself for occasional 'stupid decisions.' Transcript: Other Speaker I think he did a social post and he called TVPN his favorite tech show and he made it clear that he expects the tone to remain unchanged. So he said, quote, I don't expect them to go any easier on us. I'm sure I'll do my part to help enable that with occasional stupid decisions. Haha, very funny, Sam. I think that their founders right now are kind of seeing this as a bit of a chance to stay, you know, step kind of beyond commentary into some real influence. They said, this is a quote from them, they said, well, we've been critical of the industry at times after getting to know Sam and the OpenAI team, what stood out to what stood out most was Their openness to feedback and commitment to getting this right. Moving from commentary to real impact and how this technology is distributed and understood globally is incredibly important to us. I think that framing kind of gets to the core of the deal, right? It isn't just OpenAI buying the show. I think OpenAI is buying the distribution and maybe some of the narrative control and kind of a direct line into the daily conversations that are shaping tech. They know this is a daily show that a lot of people in tech watch. And so they feel like this is a good way for them to kind of get embedded in that and also to get feedback and information out of it. So I think there's a lot of a lot of synergy there. It's fascinating to see this is, you know, a company that's getting acquired. And Sam Altman has been on the show multiple times. So evidently, he's made good relationships with these with these folks. ([Time 0:08:09](https://share.snipd.com/snip/e1ad5fc2-d807-461d-9b3d-7370ad03f016))