OpenAI acquires TBPN, a trade fair led by innovators

OpenAI has acquired the popular technology industry showcase TBPN – Technology Business Programming Network – making this the first time AI has acquired a media company. The presentation will be presented by OpenAI’s chief policy officer, Chris Lehane.

TBPN, hosted by technology founders John Coogan and Jordi Hays, is a daily show that airs on YouTube and X for three hours, focusing on technology, business, AI, and security.

The show has gained a cult following in Silicon Valley, a safe haven where geeks can talk freely and be interviewed by insiders. The show is known as the Sports Center for technology companies – a place where top executives such as Mark Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella, Marc Benioff, and, yes, Sam Altman, come to cut, listen to the news of the day, and sometimes make their own.

TBPN will continue to exist as its own brand, which OpenAI will help grow. Not that it really needed help on that front; TBPN has grown into an empire that is expected to pull in more than $30 million this year, according to The Wall Street Journal.

OpenAI already has its own podcast in long discussions with the company’s technical architects.

OpenAI will also showcase “awesome startups and marketing ideas” outside of the show, according to AGI’s OpenAI CEO Fidji Simo, who said TBPN will “bring AI to the world in a way that helps people understand how this technology affects their daily lives.”

Simo went even further, noting that TBPN’s technology is important to an atypical company like OpenAI where “the interactive playbook doesn’t work.”

He said TBPN will be independent and continue to “run their own programs, choose their own guests, and make their own decisions.”

However, the purchase may take some time. After all, OpenAI is a valuable AI lab that is on the verge of an IPO buying an interesting story that often discusses the company and its competitors. And once the agreement is finalized, TBPN will work under the OpenAI team and report to them Chris Lehanethe man who coined the term “right-wing grand conspiracy” as a tool to thwart press scrutiny in the Clinton White House.

Lehane, who is known as an expert in “dark politics,” is also behind the crypto industry PAC Fairshake, which has spent hundreds of millions to eliminate anti-crypto candidates in the 2024 election. He joined OpenAI in the same year and has been in the ears of President Trump since then, whispering ideas about the sweep and arguments like. prevent countries from controlling AI and reduce environmental restrictions which may delay the construction of the data center.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who said in a social media post that TBPN is his favorite art show, he seems to believe that the purchase will not change the review of TBPN and the criticism of the company.

He wrote: “I don’t expect them to trouble us, I believe I will do my part to make this happen with the occasional stupid decision.”

TBPN, meanwhile, sees access as a way to do more than just comment.

“While we have 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 making this happen,” Hays said in a statement. “Moving from comments to real results on how this technology is shared and heard around the world is very important to us.”

Got tips or articles for the AI ​​industry? From a non-working device, contact Rebecca Bellan privately at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com or Signal: rebeccabellan.491.