OpenAI has acquired the technology news podcast TBPN, a daily show hosted by John Coogan and Jordi Hays that covers the tech industry and features high-profile guests such as Mark Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella and Sam Altman himself. TBPN emerged in 2025 and, despite having only about 58,000 YouTube subscribers, has rapidly built a strong business, securing sponsors including Ramp, Plaid, Google’s Gemini and a partnership with the New York Stock Exchange.
According to reporting cited, the podcast generated about $5 million in advertising revenue in 2025 and is projected to exceed $30 million in 2026, underscoring how creator-led media can rival traditional outlets as audiences increasingly turn to independent podcasts and online shows.
The acquisition reflects OpenAI’s effort to foster “constructive conversation about the changes AI creates,” a responsibility linked to its broader mission around artificial general intelligence, according to Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of AGI Deployment. TBPN will be placed within OpenAI’s strategy organization, but it is expected to retain editorial independence and continue selecting its own guests, a point emphasized in the announcement.
Sam Altman stated that “TBPN is my favorite tech show” and insisted that its hosts should not “go any easier” on OpenAI, even joking that his “occasional stupid decisions” would give them material to critique. For their part, the hosts highlighted OpenAI’s openness to criticism and framed the move as a chance to shift from commentary toward “real impact in how this technology is distributed and understood globally”.
Reference
Vallese, Z. (2026, April 2). OpenAI acquires popular tech podcast TBPN. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/02/openai-acquires-tech-podcast-tbpn.html