Openai · Fortune Technology
3 reasons OpenAI buying daily tech show TBPN for hundreds of millions isn't totally crazy
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This essay appeared in the April 4, 2026 edition of the Fortune 500 Digest newsletter, which rounds up the headlines driving the week’s most important business news and coverage of Fortune 500 companies.
Key facts
- The founders appear to be selling their 1.5-year-old startup at a huge multiple to what they are generating—the show did roughly $5 million in revenue in 2025, and was targeting around $30 million
- This essay appeared in the April 4, 2026 edition of the Fortune 500 Digest newsletter, which rounds up the headlines driving the week’s most important business news and coverage of Fortune 500
- AI in general has a bit of a PR problem in the United States
- John Coogan and Jordi Hays, the two young founders of TBPN, a daily tech show that streams on YouTube and X, perfectly timed their exit this week, selling to OpenAI for a price in the “low hundreds
Summary
The initial reaction from the industry was, “What the?!” Even inside OpenAI, some employees reportedly thought it was an April Fools’ joke. First, it gives OpenAI access to distribution for its own marketing and communications at scale. It’s also possible that this was an acqui-hire, and that the hosts of TBPN could fill a communications and marketing void going forward for the AI giant. AI in general has a bit of a PR problem in the United States. Finally, live video programming is arguably one of the most defensible and trustworthy forms of media in an AI-generated content world.