OpenAI has struck a deal to acquire TBPN, a technology-focused talk show popular in Silicon Valley, making an unexpected move into broadcasting after pledging to abandon “side quests” and focus on its core business.
The ChatGPT maker had purchased the 11-person company in a “low hundreds of millions of dollars” deal, according to a person with knowledge of the terms.
Archived at https://ghostarchive.org/archive/VfGEx
Super. Media is always better when big corporations control the content.
Not sure how buying a podcast is going to help pay the bills, Altman.
It’s to convince others to pay Altman’s bills.
Bills? This is about controlling the narrative. Billionaires don’t think in terms of money, but in terms of optics. Keep the proper image up, and the money will come in on its own.
Controlling the narrative, delay the explosion of the AI bubble.
I mean, at least it’s possible to operate a podcast at a profit
I have never heard of this show
Me neither, I feel like all the publications talking about how it’s so popular are gaslighting me or being taken by some bullshit bottled streaming numbers
TPBN YouTube channel (their primary outlet) has 64k subscribers, averages 5k views per podcast episode. Except for the OpenAI announcement that has 13k, and all the comments are negative.
For “low” hundreds of millions of dollars. Wtf.
One of the founders is the guy who invented Soylent, and now shills nicotine pouches.
It’s says it’s popular in Silicon Valley. Is that where you work?
That’s where I work, and I’ve never heard of it.
It’s probably just tech bro bullshit though, pump and dump, not something actual engineers would listen to.
11 person company with 65,000 subscribers to their channel. Dude pays like $3000 per subscriber. Be cheaper just to pay people to listen to him.
I bet the owners couldn’t believe their luck lmao
I doubt luck had much to do with it! This just seems like a convenient way to embezzle a few hundred million of investor money as a favour to a friend.
Meh. If I am paid to endure a bunch of openAI corporate bullshit, I don’t think I am going lower than $3,000 for the trouble.
65k YouTube subs and they paid hundreds of millions?!?
YouTube subs is a bad metric for a podcast.
Yeah this is the wildest overvaluation I’ve seen in ages. I’ve never heard of them, seems like most people here haven’t.
OpenAI must be getting pretty damned desperate to turn the AI narrative to do this.
OpenAI looking for their own Bari Weiss
It literally would have been cheaper to pay every subscriber a thousand dollars to listen to him.
They may be the only company in this space as unfocused as xAI. They basically bought a podcast to use as a mouthpiece. It’s just dumb and anyone who would consider investing in this company as to doubt their leadership and decision making. What a waste of their money.
It worked with Bro Joegan
Did it? I mean, it may have bought President Pedo the couple of months he needed to win an election against a historically awful opponent, but given his 32% approval rating and being stuck in a war that was supposed to distract from the detention camps that were supposed to be a distraction from the tariffs that were supposed to be a distraction from DOGE which was supposed to be a distraction from the pedophilia, I think it’s fair to say that buying a mouthpiece isn’t a durable solution to the problem of being objectively stupid
He has made billions of dollars of the presidency and made himself everyone’s fucking problem, probably everything that he ever wanted.
But they got the republicans elected, that’s all that matters. They don’t care about what happens after they get into power
Broprah.
Where can I sell my 43 subscriber YTP channel to him?
Never heard of it, like ever.
Seems like such a great investment, therefore. /s
Launder harder Sam you fucking dweeb.
“Hey everyone, we sold our channel for several million! Anyway, follow us on our new channel here”.
OpenAIs stupid lol
Probably insider corruption. Like the corporate sales agent or podcast employee is somehow related through friendship or blood to someone at openai.
More proof of this stellar company’s incredible jenius.
making an unexpected move into broadcasting after pledging to abandon “side quests” and focus on its core business.
That’s exactly what they’re doing here tho…
The “core business” is hype, because hype is the only reason to use, invest in, or support current AI.
There’s nothing they can do to raise share price more than buying an existing reputable source to make it a propaganda shill.
The author is still operating under the assumption that AI can be made profitable if only they work a little harder. It’s not gonna happen, it’s a fucking boondoggle who only exists to grift investors. Once you’re roped in, you have a financial incentive to perpetuate the grift.
And now TBPN (whatever that is) has a financial incentive to tell people how great AI is
This must be a show that only people who make their lifeways by following the scent of VC dick stank watch
Remember when facebook bought instagram for whatever stupid amount it was and there was that audio of the instagram guys howling with laughter? Do we get one of those with this as well?
The difference being Facebook was buying an already up and coming, clearly successful business idea. Here, they’re buying a YouTube channel with basically no subscribers. So yeah, one sounds like a business decision. The other is delusions of someone who doesn’t know how to spend investor money.
I mean… that would give these unknown youtubers even bigger reason to howl with laughter than the Instagram people had
