OpenAI's huge funding and media push
OpenAI just closed a record-setting $122 billion funding round and is using that firepower to expand influence beyond models — it also acquired tech talk show TBPN to shape the public narrative. The cash (bringing OpenAI to an $852 billion valuation) cements its role as a dominant infrastructure player, while the TBPN buy signals a rare push into media to control how AI stories are told (itbusinesstoday.com, x.com).
OpenAI closed a $122 billion funding round on March 31, 2026, which the company says pushed its post‑money valuation to $852 billion. ( ) The company also disclosed that it is generating roughly $2 billion in revenue per month and that ChatGPT has about 900 million weekly active users, and two days later announced it had acquired the daily tech talk show TBPN on April 2, 2026; OpenAI says TBPN will report to its chief global affairs officer, Chris Lehane, while keeping editorial control. ( ) “Post‑money valuation” means the company’s value immediately after the new investment — in this case $852 billion — and OpenAI says the new capital will be used to buy more computing capacity (the servers and chips that run large AI models), expand data center buildout, and fund its roadmap for integrating models and features into a single platform. ( ) TBPN is the Technology Business Programming Network, a founder‑led daily show hosted by Jordi Hays and John Coogan (and a small production team), and OpenAI says the show will sit inside its Strategy organization while retaining editorial independence; the financial terms of the purchase were not disclosed. ( ) Several large technology firms anchored the round — including Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank — and OpenAI expanded the round beyond an earlier $110 billion commitment to $122 billion, with more than $3 billion coming from individual investors via bank channels for the first time. ( ) Coverage of the TBPN purchase notes the company’s public pledge of editorial independence but also flags questions about conflicts — specifically whether content owned by OpenAI could be used to train models or otherwise influence debate about AI regulation and business practices — and OpenAI’s CFO framed the financing as giving the company flexibility to invest heavily in compute and infrastructure. ( )
