I have been following the Technology Business Programming Network (TBPN) since last year. The best definition for the case I’ve read comes from a NY Times article published in October. At the time, Jordi Hays and John Coogan began to be featured in major publications interested in knowing how they created a niche program where they interviewed mid-level technology executives up to Sam Altman, and were even officially invited to the Meta campus to talk with Mark Zuckerberg.
Journalist Mike Isaac describes the TBPN formula as “simple”: two self-aware guys who treat technocapitalism like a football league, recording a sequence of executive transfers, corporate acquisitions, initial public offerings and venture capital financing. According to him, it would be like the SportsCenter for recent online MBA graduates.
What’s more: the setting resembled a CNBC studio set up in the locker room of an Equinox gym. “On a recent morning, Mr. Hays took off his pants while talking on the phone with a potential guest, changing out of his workout clothes for a suit. A dozen young men ran around the set, getting ready for the show and munching on packets of Zyn. There were no women present, and the only people who looked to be over 30 were Mr. Coogan and me.”
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I brought the context and part of Isaac’s great report at the time to scale what OpenAI purchased. The acquisition announced earlier this month surprised even those at the intersection of technology and media.
In short: the company that just raised $122 billion at an $852 billion valuation paid “a few hundred million dollars” (speculated $100 million) for a daily tech talk show with 11 people and 72,500 subscribers on YouTube.
In 2025, in its first full year, TBPN reached $5 million in advertising revenue. By 2026, the company is on track to surpass $30 million, according to the WSJ.
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Weeks after Isaac’s article, Brian Morrissey analyzed the rise of TBPN, making a prediction that now seems prophetic. The expert highlighted that Hays and Coogan are passionate about technology business and bring an unusual enthusiasm to their interviews, which seems “anathema” to traditional journalism.
What was he planning six months ago? Tech leaders aren’t expecting TBPN to have a huge audience, they’re allowing the show to grow by lending credibility and helping build its distribution.
While Morrissey had the right nose, the foreshadowing analysis probably didn’t indicate that this acquisition would come from the company demanding all the spotlight on the planet right now.
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Relevant information, but little publicized, gives more context to the unusual purchase. As Chris Erwim recalled, OpenAI plans an initial public offering (IPO) in late 2026 or early 2027, with a valuation close to US$1 trillion.
Morrissey also warned that in recent years, Silicon Valley has built a saturated, alternative information ecosystem. He wrote: “Oligarchs spend an immense amount of time and energy making media and obsessing over it.”
The OpenAI X TBPN case is not isolated. In the days following the news, HubSpot acquired Futurepedia, one of the largest networks of YouTube channels focused on AI and education. The deal allows HubSpot to accelerate its own AI-focused content strategy and expand its reach across the creator ecosystem.
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I read 12 articles about the case, and they are all unanimous on one point: talking about artificial intelligence is monotonous. And being boring is expensive, especially if your focus is the B2C market.
Jim Louderback’s provocation sums up this debated tedium: “Want to generate value in the age of AI? Lead with personality. Build a genuine relationship with a desirable audience.”
What seemed like great stupidity for Simon Owens to comment on the purchase of the tech bros’ program (a common satire in Silicon Valley) now reveals another moment in the intersection between AI and media: the old methods of monetization are broken, but the sector remains more valuable than ever.
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In Morrissey’s words, companies will continue to find ways to unlock media leverage beyond the traditional approach of ads and “working the referees” through public relations.
In other words: it is about using the media as a strategic asset that multiplies negotiating power, valuation and influence.
IA X TV X show
For AI to achieve the same level of emotional engagement as other forms of ad-funded media, it needs to move out of the chat window, out of just a hobby, and onto the stage. No one will care about AI until it becomes “a spectacle for spectators.”
This is Myles Younger’s conclusion when bringing network effects theory to the OpenAI and TBPN case. As the adtech and AI expert wrote, for each individual user, the value of a media platform grows proportionally as more users also consume that content. Investment in advertising comes as a consequence. It’s the story of “success begets more success.”
“Think of all the advertising revenue OpenAI will need to raise from Google, Meta and a host of other competitors,” he teased.
Younger also brings up a timely example when comparing Microsoft breaking the ties of the early days of personal computing with the launch of Windows 95, which required a massive advertising campaign, popularizing computers.
The question asked by the expert is: did OpenAI really need to acquire TBPN entirely as its own in-house advertising arm?
“I would say no, but the acquisition implies that OpenAI (in its quest for advertising dollars) at least realizes what game it is playing (and it is not a technology game).”
Pop culture as a business drive
This year, TBPN purchased local ads in San Francisco on billboards during the Super Bowl to generate spontaneous media coverage.
Como bem detacou Happiness Dog, there is a version of TBPN that becomes the first technology media brand with genuine cultural prestige, not just industry credibility.
Following OpenAI’s logic in embracing pop culture, as Younger suggested, this also indicates that Sam Altman’s company is familiarizing itself with that culture and the realities of an ad-funded media.
“TBPN knows how to communicate with humans and create shared experiences, allowing OpenAI to remain in its safe space of technology culture permanently online. For now.”
Owens highlights that AI suffers from a public relations problem: “after all, it has a terrible reputation”. And the only way OpenAI will achieve ubiquity is if people see it as a force for good.
OpenAI’s reputation problem is not small. On the 6th, The New Yorker published “Sam Altman May Control Our Future — Can He Be Trusted?” The article written by Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz is one of the most intriguing ever published on the technology and also a reminder of how deep the distrust surrounding Altman runs.
The TBPN, in this context, appears as a shield of credibility.
And this protection can evolve. As Erwim put it, the type of value TBPN offers OpenAI could shift from “trusted third-party validation” to “high production value owned media.” “They are very different assets”, highlighted the analyst.
To paraphrase Mutowembwa, earned trust cannot be manufactured on demand. And that’s why OpenAI hasn’t built its own TBPN. She bought it.
