TikTok U.S. receives a merger proposal from Perplexity AI.
- ByteDance received a bid from Perplexity AI on Saturday for a merger with TikTok U.S., according to CNBC.
- According to a source, ByteDance's existing investors would retain their equity stakes and bring more video content to Perplexity.
- President-elect Donald Trump stated that he "most likely" would grant TikTok 90 more days to finalize a deal, despite the likelihood of any potential transaction taking months to complete.
On Saturday, Perplexity AI submitted a bid to ByteDance to merge with TikTok U.S. and create a new entity with New Capital Partners, according to CNBC.
According to a source, ByteDance's existing investors would retain their equity stakes and bring more video content to Perplexity if a potential deal were to occur.
Perplexity AI, a startup competing with OpenAI and , began 2024 with a valuation of roughly $500 million and ended the year with a valuation of about $9 billion, after attracting increasing investor interest amid the generative AI boom and controversy over plagiarism accusations.
Google's AI-assisted search has been viewed by investors as a potential risk, as it may change the way consumers access information online. In late 2022, OpenAI introduced a search engine called SearchGPT, which started the generative AI craze. Later, Google launched "AI Overviews" in search, allowing users to see a quick summary of answers at the top of results.
President-elect Donald Trump stated on Saturday that he is likely to grant TikTok 90 more days to negotiate a deal with ByteDance after his inauguration on Monday, despite the app's impending shutdown in the U.S.
On Friday, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew expressed gratitude to President Trump for his dedication to collaborate with them to keep TikTok accessible in the US.
Perplexity AI has a chance to acquire TikTok U.S. because ByteDance has stated that it will not sell the platform, and the proposal is a merger rather than a sale, according to a source.
The final price for ByteDance's acquisition will be determined by the shareholders' desire to remain part of the new entity or cash out, with the source estimating it to be "well north of $50 billion."
Technology
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