Could Sam Altman’s OpenAI be in the running to win an Emmy?

TBPN, the tech-insider podcast that AI giant OpenAI acquired last month, plans to put up ads across Los Angeles next month with ads campaigning for the show to win an Emmy Award in the emerging media category.

The ads (see below) tout TBPN as “the most influential show you’ve never heard of,” blurbing Bari Weiss’s The Free Press.

Starting May 4, TBPN will launch a series of out-of-home ads in L.A. in partnership with advertising company AdQuick. The ads will roll out across “prime L.A. real estate,” per AdQuick, including on Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire and Santa Monica and Vine. The idea is to highlight how podcasts — and TBPN specifically — are evolving into “full-scale cultural ecosystems,” according to AdQuick.

The partnership is a kind of full-circle moment: AdQuick was TBPN’s second-ever sponsor, and now the two are teaming up to promote the brand to Emmys voters.

“AdQuick has been a day-one partner of TBPN, so partnering with them on our FYC campaign across Hollywood was a no-brainer,” said Dylan Abruscato, president of TBPN. “We’re building something at the intersection of interactive, internet-native content and Hollywood tradition, and it’s exciting to see the Emmys recognize emerging media programs like ours as television continues to evolve.”

OpenAI — which claims it will maintain TBPN’s editorial independence — bought the streaming show because it helps “create a space for a real, constructive conversation about the changes AI creates,” according to Fidji Simo, CEO of applications at OpenAI. The idea is that TBPN will help OpenAI communicate its PR message and philosophy about how AI is changing the world.

Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, said in a tweet last month, “TBPN is my favorite tech show. We want them to keep that going and for them to do what they do so well. I don’t expect them to go any easier on us, am sure I’ll do my part to help enable that with occasional stupid decisions.”

TBPN has 11 employees and debuted its talk-show livestream in March 2025. The show averages around 70,000 viewers per episode across platforms, per the Wall Street Journal. TBPN says it is profitable and generated around $5 million in ad revenue in 2025 (and claims it was on track to make more than $30 million in revenue in 2026).

Here’s an image of the TBPN Emmys FYC ad that will begin appearing around L.A.: