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OpenAI acquires technology talkshow TBPN, hosts confirm deal is real

Economy & businessEconomy
Key Points
  • OpenAI is acquiring TBPN, a technology talkshow, with hosts confirming the deal is not an April Fools' joke.
  • Financial terms are undisclosed, and TBPN will continue its daily broadcasts and format on platforms like X, YouTube, and Spotify.
  • Coogan's personal and professional ties to Sam Altman include Altman funding his first company and shared work at Y Combinator and Founders Fund.

The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. TBPN is co-hosted by John Coogan and Jordi Hays, broadcasting live for three hours every weekday from Los Angeles on platforms including X, YouTube, and Spotify. The show features a ritual where hosts bang a gong as guests announce their latest fundraising haul, and it will continue broadcasting daily at its regular time, according to Coogan.

Coogan said the acquisition represents a 'full circle moment' due to his longstanding ties to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, noting that Altman funded his first company in 2013. Coogan also worked at Y Combinator, where Altman served as president, and at Founders Fund, where the first deal he encountered was OpenAI's post-ChatGPT funding round in late 2022. TBPN features guests including founders, venture capitalists, and major figures in the technology world.

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.

Fidji Simo, OpenAI's chief of strategy
Said in an internal message to staff about the acquisition of TBPN.

The exact purchase price and specific changes OpenAI might implement to TBPN's operations remain unknown, as do the long-term goals for the show under OpenAI's ownership. According to The Guardian - Main UK, John Coogan described the deal as not being an April Fools' joke. Fidji Simo, OpenAI's chief of strategy, stated that OpenAI is driving a major technological shift and with its mission to bring AGI to the world comes a responsibility to create space for constructive conversation about AI's changes.

Simo added that TBPN will continue to run its programming, choose its guests, and make its own editorial decisions, which is foundational to its credibility and explicitly protected in the agreement.

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.

Fidji Simo, OpenAI's chief of strategy
Said in an internal message to staff about the acquisition of TBPN.

He funded my first company in 2013.

John Coogan, Co-host of TBPN
Wrote in a post on X about his relationship with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

This is not an April fools joke.

John Coogan, Co-host of TBPN
Said at the start of their show on Thursday to confirm the deal.
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