Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, has successfully transformed the magazine into a profitable entity since taking the helm in 2021. The publication now boasts 1.6 million subscribers and revenue significantly exceeding $100 million, a stark contrast to its previous financial struggles. Thompson attributes this turnaround to a deep-pocketed owner, Laurene Powell Jobs, and a talented editorial team led by editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg. Thompson himself is an atypical CEO, with a background as an editor at publications like Wired and The New Yorker, and a prolific output of his own content, including books, podcasts, and videos.
Thompson discussed his mandate to make The Atlantic profitable and his owner's idealistic commitment to improving democratic conversation in America. He noted frequent communication with Powell Jobs' office and her sharp, perceptive questions about business strategy and effectiveness.
Regarding the partnership with OpenAI, Thompson stated that The Atlantic prefers being paid by AI companies rather than not being compensated at all. The contract includes boundaries on summarization and the ability of AI models to mimic authors, aimed at making it harder for AI to replace journalistic work. While OpenAI has been a good partner, Thompson expressed surprise that AI models are not directing significant traffic back to publishers, a key expectation when the deal was struck. He believes the core issue is the different use case for AI chatbots compared to traditional search engines, where users are in a conversation with the bot rather than seeking to click through to external sites.
Despite a decrease in referral traffic from Google, Thompson noted a mysterious increase in subscribers originating from Google traffic. He also outlined the necessity of a "fair exchange of value" for renewing the OpenAI deal, which could involve monetary payments or useful credits, such as those for Codex.
Thompson also addressed his creation of sponsored videos, distinct from The Atlantic's editorial content, which are labeled as such. He highlighted that the revenue generated from his content helps fund more reporters, maintaining a clear separation between his business activities and the editorial side. He believes this separation is tension-free because the content is good and profitable, and neither side is privy to the other's specific projects.
