OpenAI Acquires Live Tech Talk Show TBPN

OpenAI is acquiring Technology Business Programming Network (TBPN), a daily live tech podcast that airs every weekday from 11–2 pm PT. The show is popular among people working in the Silicon Valley tech ecosystem, and OpenAI said that it wants to leverage TBPN’s community to “Accelerate the global conversation around AI.”

TBPN is hosted by entrepreneurs Jordi Hays and John Cooga, and OpenAI said that the team will keep its editorial independence. However, Fidji Simo, the new CEO of AGI Deployment at OpenAI, said that the AI startup will be leveraging TBPN’s comms and marketing teams to improve the way it communicates about the disruptive technologies it’s developing.

“As I’ve been thinking about the future of how we communicate at OpenAI, one thing that’s become clear is that the standard communications playbook just doesn’t apply to us,” Simo said. “We’re not a typical company. We’re driving a really big technological shift. And 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—with builders and people using the technology at the center.”

ChatGPT quickly became one of the fastest-growing apps of all time, and the chatbot continues to enjoy a mindshare advantage compared to its competitors. With this new media acquisition, OpenAI can continue to increase its “soft power”, though it’s certainly a surprising move at a time when the company is trying to refocus and avoid “side quests.”