OpenAI’s out-of-the-blue acquisition of TBPN, the buzzy online talk show, stunned the worlds of media and technology. But it’s a continuation of a pattern that dates back a hundred years, to 1926, when RCA created NBC in part to sell radios.
Time and time again, pioneers of new platforms have also bought up content and influenced conversations about those platforms.
In this case, a live-streaming show with a small but loyal and influential audience — 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 — will be bankrolled