A day before the expected closure of TikTok in the United States, Perplexity AI startup has submitted a merger proposal to TikTok’s parent company ByteDance that would allow it to continue operating, CNBC reports. Citing an anonymous source, CNBC reports that the proposed merger “would create a new organization that would combine Perplexity, TikTok US, and New Capital Partners.” This comes after the Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Friday to uphold a law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the United States. So far, the company has resisted the idea of selling.
According to a CNBC source, Perplexity, which currently offers an artificial intelligence-based search engine and has been sued by news organizations for copyright infringement, hopes that a merger rather than a sale will be more attractive to ByteDance. “The new structure will allow most of ByteDance’s existing investors to retain their equity stakes and bring more video to Perplexity,” CNBC reports. If ByteDance accepts the offer, there is a possibility that Trump will give the company a 90-day extension to close the deal, which he told NBC News’ Kristen Welker that he “most likely” will do when he takes office on Monday. But so far, there is no indication that ByteDance will go that route.
Despite rampant speculation about potential buyers, TikTok said it “will be forced to go dark on January 19” when the law goes into effect unless “the Biden administration immediately makes a definitive statement that satisfies the most important service providers, ensuring that the law is not enforced.” However, the outgoing administration reportedly says it is leaving the matter to the Trump team. According to MSNBC, White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre called TikTok’s announcement of the shutdown a “stunt” and said that “we see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take action in the next few days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday.”
“We’ve made our position clear: it’s up to the next administration to implement this law,” Jean-Pierre said, according to MSNBC. “So TikTok and other companies have to resolve any issues with them.”
