OpenAIhas announced that it has officially acquired the popular technology news podcast, TBPN. It is a well-known daily podcast hosted by John Coogan and Jordi Hays. The show has earned a reputation as a must-watch for tech enthusiasts, frequently featuring high-profile interviews with the industry’s biggest names.Past guests at TBPN have included Mark Zuckerberg (Meta CEO), Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO) and Sam Altman (OpenAI Co-founder and CEO).Following the announcement, Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of AGI Deployment, shared a message with employees explaining the reasoning behind the deal. Simo emphasized that as OpenAI moves closer to its goal of creating Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), the company has a growing responsibility to engage with the public. She noted that the mission requires a dedicated space for “constructive conversation about the changes AI creates.”I’m excited to share that we’ve acquired TBPN(opens in a new window). This acquisition brings a team with strong editorial instincts, deep audience understanding, and a proven ability to convene influential voices across tech, business, and culture.TBPN has built something pretty special. It’s one of the places where the conversation about AI and builders is actually happening day to day. A lot of you already watch it, and rely on it to stay close to what’s going on.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. We’re not a typical company. We’re driving a really big technological shift. And with the mission of bringing AGI to the world 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.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, support what they’re doing, and help them scale—while keeping what makes them special. A core part of this is editorial independence. TBPN will continue to run their programming, choose their guests, and make their own editorial decisions. That’s foundational to their credibility, and it’s something we’re explicitly protecting as part of this agreement.I’m also excited to bring their amazing comms and marketing instincts to the team. They’ve helped many brands market online and because they have a strong pulse on where the industry is going, their comms and marketing ideas have really impressed me. I can’t wait to leverage their talent outside of the show to innovate on how we bring AI to the world in a way that helps people understand the full impact of this technology on their daily lives.TBPN will sit within our Strategy org, reporting to Chris Lehane. Really excited to welcome Jordi, John, Dylan, and the broader team.
