TikTok has yet to find a new owner and bidders are already lining up! The world's largest short video content platform, Tiktok, is working on a deadline to find a new buyer to continue its operations in the United States. Perplexity ai has also thrown its hat in the bag! It has offered to buy a 50% stake in Tiktok offering the remaining 50% stake to the US government. With several big names like Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Oracle, Microsoft, and more showing interest in purchasing Tiktok, Perplexity ai has raised several eyebrows with its offer.
What is the problem with the Tiktok-Us government?
It all started when the US government raised security concerns about the Chinese government potentially accessing Tiktok user data. Tiktok, owned by China's Byte Dance, is the most popular video platform serving more than 170 million American users. Under legislation passed by the Government, bytedance has to divest from Tiktok by January 19, 2025 to continue operations in the United States. But new US President Donald Trump has extended that deadline by another 75 days to allow Bytedance to find suitable buyers for its stake in the company.
Also Read: Perplexity ai Mobile Assistant – The ai Master App We All Need
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-perplexity-ai“>What is perplexity ai?
Perplexity ai is a Gen ai-based search engine based in San Francisco. It was founded in August 2022 by Aravind Srinivas, Andy Konwinski, Denis Yarats and Johnny Ho. Its conversational search engine uses large language models like GPT-3.5, Claude Sonnet, and more to provide real-time answers to user queries, citing sources within its answers.
As of December 2024, Perpleity ai raised a $500 million funding round, raising its valuation to $9 billion. The list of perplexing ai investors includes Jeff Bezos, Nvidia and SoftBank.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-perplexity-ai-s-proposal”>What is the perplexity ai proposal?
Perplexity ai has proposed a merger with Tiktok's US operations, hoping to create a new entity where the US government could hold up to a 50% stake following an initial public offering or IPO valued at a minimum of $300 billion. This proposal aims to address national security concerns by excluding Tiktok's core recommendation algorithm, the right to which would still be with the byte. The Chinese company would come to Tiktok for us investors, providing existing capital from Tiktok investors in the new company. The holding company could also acquire Perplex ai if its investors receive equity in the new entity
Currently, Tiktok offers several generative ai tools for its users. With Perplex taking over its US operations, we may see more interesting Gen ai-powered tools lining up. Together “Tiktok + Perpleity ai” may be the next big thing in the social media space.
Also Read: Perplexity Sonar API – Reliable, Scalable and Developer Friendly
Final note
Perplexity ai has major investors backing its operations and with its offering, the US government can find its voice in the operations of the US entity of “Tiktok” providing a win-win situation across the board. . While bytedance has received interest from several leaders in the US tech leaders, as well as social media influencers like Mr. Beast, it has yet to make a statement regarding its decision. Only time will tell if Perplexity ai will have a chance to buy Tiktok or not.
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Anu Madan has over 5 years of experience in content creation and management. Having worked as a content creator, reviewer, and manager, she has created several courses and blogs. Currently, she works on creating and strategizing content curation and design around generative ai and other future technologies.
