Author: Xiao Ba, Deep Tide TechFlow

Deep Tide Introduction: OpenAI announced the acquisition of TBPN, a Silicon Valley technology live broadcast program, with the transaction amount not disclosed. The Financial Times of the UK cited informed sources that it is at a "hundreds of millions" level.

The program will be integrated into OpenAI's strategic department and will report directly to Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane.

OpenAI has committed to retaining TBPN's editorial independence, but the program's advertising business will cease after the acquisition, raising questions about whether competing CEOs will still appear on the show.

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OpenAI officially crosses into the media industry.

According to reports from multiple media outlets including CNBC, TechCrunch, and Bloomberg on April 2, OpenAI announced the acquisition of the technology business live broadcast program TBPN (Technology Business Programming Network), marking the company's first acquisition of media assets since its establishment. TBPN is co-hosted by former tech entrepreneurs John Coogan and Jordi Hays, with three hours of simultaneous live broadcasting on YouTube, X, and LinkedIn every weekday, covering topics of technology, business, AI, and defense, and described by The New York Times as "Silicon Valley's latest obsession."

OpenAI applications CEO Fidji Simo stated in an internal memo: "Traditional communication strategies do not apply to us. We are driving a massive technological transformation."

TBPN: A "Tech Version of SportsCenter" with 70,000 Viewers per Episode Established in One Year

TBPN began broadcasting in March 2025, with a team of only 11 people, but quickly became popular in the Silicon Valley circles. According to The Wall Street Journal, the program averages about 70,000 viewers per episode, with 58,000 YouTube subscribers. The numbers may not be large, but the audience quality is very high: CEOs like Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Salesforce's Marc Benioff, Palantir's Alexander Karp, and Altman himself have all appeared on the show.

The financial performance is equally impressive. TBPN's advertising revenue was around $5 million in 2025, achieving profitability without external investors. According to the WSJ, the company's revenue target for 2026 exceeds $30 million. Axios reported that TBPN had previously hired former Postmates and HQ Trivia executive Dylan Abruscato as president, aiming to increase revenue to $15 million in 2026 (the data from the two sources is inconsistent).

The program was initially called "Technology Brothers," and according to a report from The New York Times in October 2025, the name is a self-deprecating reference to the term "tech bros." The two hosts lean towards an insider perspective of Silicon Valley, providing real-time news interpretations and interviews with founders, with TechCrunch positioning it as the "SportsCenter of the tech industry," a "safe space" where industry giants can chat freely and occasionally create news.

Integrated into Strategic Department, Advertising Business Ceased

After the acquisition, TBPN will be integrated into OpenAI's strategic department and will report directly to Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane. Simo promised in the memo that TBPN will retain editorial independence, "continuing to make autonomous decisions about program content, guest selection, and editorial judgment." Altman posted on the X platform that TBPN is his "favorite tech show" and stated, "I don't expect them to be nicer to us; I will definitely do something stupid from time to time to give them material."

However, TechCrunch directly pointed out the sensitivity of this arrangement in its report: an AI giant about to go public has acquired a tech program that often discusses itself and its competitors, while the background of the program's managing figure, Lehane, is itself controversial.

According to TechCrunch, Lehane is credited with coining the term "right-wing conspiracy" during the Clinton administration and has been referred to as a "master of political dark arts." He is also a driving force behind the crypto industry's super PAC Fairshake, which spent hundreds of millions of dollars to combat anti-crypto candidates in the 2024 elections. After joining OpenAI in 2024, Lehane has played a significant role in AI regulatory policy.

According to the WSJ, the advertising business of TBPN will be shut down after the acquisition is completed. This means the program will no longer rely on external advertisers for operation, and its economic independence will be fully borne by OpenAI. Axios pointed out in an analysis that after TBPN's acquisition by OpenAI, whether competing CEOs will still be willing to appear on the show is uncertain. The program may gradually evolve into traditional "owned content," primarily serving the narrative needs of OpenAI and its partners and investors.

Coogan and Altman's Decade-long Connection

TBPN co-founder Coogan posted on the X platform that this acquisition represents "a complete closure" for him, as his partnership with Altman has lasted more than a decade. In 2013, Altman funded Coogan's first company. Last year, Altman was the first AI lab head to participate in the TBPN program.

Another co-founder, Hays, stated in a statement: "In the past year, we have not only closely observed OpenAI but also the entire ecosystem. Although we sometimes held a critical view of the industry, what impressed us most after deep engagement with Sam and the OpenAI team was their openness to feedback and commitment to doing the right thing."

The program aired as usual on the day the acquisition was announced. Coogan told thousands of online viewers on the program: "This is not an April Fool's joke; that was yesterday's matter."

Narrative Layout Before IPO, Does OpenAI Need a Talk Show?

From the timeline perspective, this acquisition occurs at a pivotal point in OpenAI's intensive expansion. Earlier this week, OpenAI announced it has completed $122 billion in new financing, with a post-money valuation reaching $852 billion. The company is in the IPO preparation period, and Bloomberg previously reported that confidential listing documents from SpaceX listed OpenAI and Anthropic as possible candidates for public offerings within the year.

According to Altagic, OpenAI is currently facing challenges regarding its public image. After the company reached a cooperation agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense in February of this year, Anthropic's Claude briefly soared to the top of the free app charts on Apple's App Store. A protest movement called "QuitGPT" is also simmering, with OpenAI President Greg Brockman listing the reputational challenges facing the AI industry as one of the important reasons for the company to increase political spending.

Against this backdrop, acquiring TBPN can be understood as an attempt by OpenAI to establish a direct narrative channel outside the traditional public relations system. Simo's wording in the memo directly pointed to this motive: "We are not a typical company. We are driving a massive technological transformation. The mission of bringing AGI to the world means we have a responsibility to create space for real and constructive dialogue around the AI revolution."

According to the Financial Times of the UK, the acquisition amount is at the "low hundreds of millions" level. For a company that just raised $122 billion and aims for $280 billion in revenue by 2030, this money is not significant. Simo also mentioned in the memo that she looks forward to leveraging Coogan and Hays's "communication and marketing intuition" outside of the program to help OpenAI innovate how it communicates AI influence to the outside world.

It is not without precedent for tech giants to acquire media assets. Jeff Bezos acquired The Washington Post in 2013, Salesforce founder Benioff bought Time magazine, and Robinhood acquired the financial communications brand MarketSnacks, each time raising questions about editorial independence. The most recent case is that fintech company Plaid acquired the industry newsletter This Week in Fintech last month. OpenAI's acquisition of TBPN continues this pattern, but there is a key difference: the media targets in the aforementioned acquisitions generally do not focus on reporting the acquirer's own content.