OpenAI acquires tech industry podcast company TBPN

OpenAI Group PBC today announced that it has acquired the company behind TBPN, a popular tech industry podcast.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to The Wall Street Journal, TBPN expects to generate more than $30 million in advertising revenue this year. That suggests the buyout price was relatively small compared to some of OpenAI’s earlier acquisitions, though a source told the Financial Times that the purchase price surprisingly was in the “low hundreds of millions of dollars.”

TBPN is a three-hour podcast hosted on weekdays by technology entrepreneurs Jordi Hays (left) and John Coogan (right). Hays earlier launched Party Round, a company that focused on helping startups raise funding. Coogan, in turn, co-founded a food brand called Soylent that has proved particularly popular among tech workers.

TBPN has aired dozens of segments about artificial intelligence since launching in late 2024. Many of them focused on OpenAI and its rivals. OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman has appeared in several of the segments, including a February broadcast that discussed the GPT-5.3-Codex coding assistant.

Google LLC has signed a Gemini-focused sponsorship deal with TBPN. It’s unclear how the acquisition will affect the podcast company’s ability to win advertising contracts from OpenAI rivals. Additionally, it may become more difficult for TBPN to persuade executives at such companies to appear on the show. The podcast has hosted not only Altman but also Microsoft Corp. CEO Satya Nadella, Apple Inc. executive Eddy Cue and other prominent industry figures.

Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of AGI deployment, wrote in an internal memo that TBPN will retain its editorial independence following the deal, though many observers expressed doubts. She also explained the reasoning behind the acquisition.

“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,” Simo wrote. “That’s exactly what TBPN has built. So rather than trying to recreate that ourselves, it made a lot of sense to bring them in.”

Simo went on to list TBPN team’s “comms and marketing instincts” as another factor behind the acquisition. Before co-host Jordi Hays launched Party Round, he founded a YouTube advertising network that connects brands with influencers. Simo wrote that the TBPN team will help OpenAI refine its marketing and communications programs “in a way that helps people understand the full impact of this technology on their daily lives.”

Given TBPN’s limited revenue, it’s possible the marketing know-how of its team was the main motivation behind the deal. OpenAI is reportedly gearing up to enter the hardware market with several consumer devices. Driving broad adoption of those products will likely require the company to ramp up its marketing efforts significantly. 

OpenAI has a track record of spending heavily to recruit key talent. Last May, it paid $5 billion to acquire a startup founded by former Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive. The team that joined OpenAI through the deal is now leading its consumer electronics push.

The company is expected to debut its first hardware product, a smart speaker with AI features, as early as February 2027. The company reportedly plans to introduce a pair of smart glasses the following year.

Photo: OpenAI