Perplexity AI’s new bid for TikTok could give U.S. 50% stake

Perplexity AI has presented a new proposal to TikTok’s parent company that would allow the U.S. government to own up to 50% of a new entity that merges Perplexity with TikTok’s U.S. business, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The proposal, submitted last week, is a revision of a prior plan the artificial intelligence startup had presented to TikTok’s parent ByteDance on January 18, a day before the law that bans TikTok went into effect.

The first proposal, which ByteDance hasn’t responded to, sought to create a new structure that would merge San Francisco-based Perplexity with TikTok’s U.S. business and include investments from other investors.

The new proposal would allow the U.S. government to own up to half of that new structure once it makes an initial public offering of at least $300 billion, said the person, who was not authorized to speak about the proposal. The person said Perplexity’s proposal was revised based off of feedback from the Trump administration.

If the plan is successful, the shares owned by the government would not have voting power, the person said. The government also would not get a seat on the new company’s board.

ByteDance and TikTok did not immediately responded to a request for comment.

Under the plan, ByteDance would not have to completely cut ties with TikTok, a favorable outcome for its investors. But it would have to allow a “full U.S. board control,” the person said.

Under the proposal, the China-based tech company would contribute TikTok’s U.S. business without the proprietary algorithm that fuels what users see on the app, according to a document seen by the Associated Press. In exchange, ByteDance’s existing investors will get equity in the new structure that emerges.

The proposal seems to mirror a strategy Steven Mnuchin, treasury secretary during Trump’s first term, discussed Sunday on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures—that a new investor in TikTok could simply “dilute down” the Chinese ownership and satisfy the law. Mnuchin has previously expressed interest in investing in the company.

“But the technology needs to be disconnected from China,” he added. “It needs to be disconnected from ByteDance. There’s absolutely no way that China would ever let us have something like that in China.”

The Perplexity proposal comes as several investors are expressing interest in TikTok. President Donald Trump said late Saturday that he expects a deal will be made in as soon as 30 days.

On a flight from Las Vegas to Miami on Air Force One, Trump also said he hadn’t discussed a deal with Larry Ellison, CEO of software maker Oracle, despite a report that Oracle, along with outside investors, was considering taking over TikTok’s global operation.

“Numerous people are talking to me. Very substantial people,” Trump said. “We have a lot of interest in it, and the United States will be a big beneficiary. . . . I’d only do it if the United States benefits.”

Under a bipartisan law passed last year, TikTok was to be banned in the United States by January 19 if it did not cut ties with ByteDance. The Supreme Court upheld the law, but Trump then issued an executive order to halt enforcement of the law for 75 days.

Trump, on Air Force One, noted that Ellison lives “right down the road” from his Mar-a-Lago estate, but added, “I never spoke to Larry about TikTok. I’ve spoken to many people about TikTok and there’s great interest in TikTok.”

TikTok briefly shut down in the U.S. a week ago, but went back online after Trump said he would postpone the ban. Trump had unsuccessfully attempted a U.S. ban of the platform during his first term. But he has since reversed his position and has credited the platform with helping him win more young voters during last year’s presidential election.

TikTok CEO Shou Chew attended Trump’s inauguration January 20, along with some other tech leaders who’ve been forging friendlier ties with the new administration.

Congress voted to ban TikTok in the U.S. out of concern that TikTok’s ownership structure represented a security risk. The Biden administration argued in court for months that it was too much of a risk to allow a Chinese company to control the algorithm that fuels what people see on the app. Officials also raised concerns about user data collected on the platform.

However, to date, the U.S. hasn’t provided public evidence of TikTok handing user data to Chinese authorities or allowing them to tinker with its algorithm.


—Haleluya Hadero and Christopher Rugaber, AP Business Writers

https://www.fastcompany.com/91267368/perplexity-ais-new-bid-tiktok-could-give-u-s-50-stake?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss

Creato 23d | 27 gen 2025, 15:20:06


Accedi per aggiungere un commento

Altri post in questo gruppo

OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever’s new AI startup is fundraising with a $30 billion valuation

A new artificial intelligence company from one of the cofounders of OpenAI is quickly becoming one of the most highly valued AI firms in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Ilya Sutskever’s Safe

19 feb 2025, 01:20:08 | Fast company - tech
Elon Musk faces more conflict-of-interest questions after DOGE fires FDA staff reviewing Neuralink

Since the moment the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was first proposed, Elon Musk’s critics have warned that the world’s richest man was at risk of making decisions that could be a con

19 feb 2025, 01:20:06 | Fast company - tech
AI hallucinations could get lawyers fired, law firm says

U.S. personal injury law firm Morgan & Morgan sent an urgent email this month to its more than 1,000 lawyers: Artificial intel

19 feb 2025, 01:20:05 | Fast company - tech
Why CX is every brand’s biggest opportunity

The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual

19 feb 2025, 01:20:04 | Fast company - tech
Federal workers fired by Elon Musk’s DOGE are sharing their anxieties on Reddit

Elon Musk’s aggressive push to cut government spending reached new heights on Valentine’s Day, as employees across

18 feb 2025, 18:20:07 | Fast company - tech
‘The bravest thing I’ve ever seen’: A lone anglerfish has the internet in tears

A lone anglerfish has captured the internet’s heart. 

Usually found 6,500 feet under the sea, this black seadevil was filmed by marine researchers in Tenerife swimming towards the w

18 feb 2025, 18:20:06 | Fast company - tech