OpenAI\u2019s out-of-the-blue acquisition of TBPN, the buzzy online talk show, stunned the worlds of media and technology. But it\u2019s a continuation of a pattern that dates back a hundred years, to 1926, when RCA created NBC in part to sell radios.<\/p>\n
Time and time again, pioneers of new platforms have also bought up content and influenced conversations about those platforms.<\/p>\n
In this case, a live-streaming show with a small but loyal and influential audience \u2014 known as a chummy platform for tech entrepreneurs to chat, where executive moves are treated like sports trades, where AI is a constant topic of conversation \u2014 will be bankrolled by one of the leading AI companies.<\/p>\n
In an interview with CNN, OpenAI chief global affairs officer Chris Lehane cited that long history of \u201ccompanies and entities owning and acquiring media properties,\u201d harkening to the days of Westinghouse Electric owning CBS and Microsoft partnering with NBC to launch MSNBC.<\/p>\n
Lehane compared the TBPN deal to news outlets hosting sponsored content and sports teams having dedicated channels.<\/p>\n
And he said the deal is about messaging. The TBPN hosts, while continuing their daily live-streamed show, will also help the ChatGPT maker with marketing and communications.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese guys at TBPN have really cracked the code, particularly as it relates to a really core audience, but an incredibly important audience within AI \u2014 of developers, of builders, of entrepreneurs, thought leaders in AI,\u201d Lehane said. \u201cIt\u2019s really based around not scooping or breaking news, but sort of breaking down the ideas that are behind AI, the how and the why.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to let these guys cook,\u201d he added, \u201cand the idea is to really scale what they can do and how they do it, so that they are able to really continue to deliver those ideas but to bigger and bigger audiences, particularly as it becomes more and more important to explain the how and the why behind AI.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many observers, like The New York Times\u2019 Silicon Valley correspondent Mike Isaac, said TBPN amounts to a form of marketing for OpenAI.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time when consumers are growing increasingly skeptical of the effects of AI on society,\u201d Isaac wrote on X, \u201cI see this as a marketing expense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lehane told CNN that having TBPN\u2019s marketing and communications skills in-house will help as \u201cwe build out some of our own franchises and our own channels,\u201d suggesting OpenAI will be doing more in the media space.<\/p>\n
OpenAI approached TBPN with the acquisition idea earlier this year. It was spearheaded by Fidji Simo, OpenAI\u2019s CEO of applications.<\/p>\n
The companies did not disclose the terms of the transaction. Lehane declined to comment on a Financial Times report that the deal was in the \u201clow hundreds of millions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The contract with OpenAI includes guarantees for editorial independence, Lehane said. TBPN president Dylan Abruscato posted on X that the show will retain full control over all its editorial decisions and branding.<\/p>\n
But \u201cOpenAI\u2019s promise of editorial independence for TBPN is irrelevant,\u201d The Information\u2019s Martin Peers wrote last night. \u201cIndependence for what purpose? Can you imagine TBPN doing a hard-hitting piece on OpenAI? It\u2019s not in the show\u2019s DNA. That\u2019s fine. There\u2019s a place for techies to talk with other techies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Information founder Jessica Lessin summed it up this way: Elon Musk \u201chas X,\u201d and now OpenAI CEO Sam Altman \u201chas TBPN.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last month, OpenAI raised eyebrows when it shut down its AI-generated video social media app Sora amid a refocus on compute-heavy core business products.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Lehane brushed off a question about whether TBPN is a new \u201csidequest\u201d for OpenAI.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re focused on where we allocate our compute,\u201d Lehane said, referring to the high cost each AI task eats up. \u201cTBPN has nothing to do with compute.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n