Artificial intelligence company Perplexity offers to merge with TikTok to avoid ban: report
O'Leary Ventures Chairman, 'The Claman Countdown' has the latest on TikTok's offering.
Artificial intelligence (AI) company Perplexity AI has made a bid to merge with TikTok US, so the video-sharing platform could avoid being banned in the country, according to a report.
The offer to ByteDance, the platform's Chinese parent company, would combine Perplexity AI, TikTok US and new equity partners and allow most ByteDance investors to retain their equity stakes, CNBC reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.
Congress passed a Ban on TikTok It will take effect on Sunday last year if China-owned ByteDance does not sell.
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TikTok is facing a ban in the US that will take effect on Sunday. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis/AP Newsroom)
The White House said President Biden would not implement the ban and President-elect Trump said he will likely request a 90-day reprieve from the statutorily authorized ban.
Still, ByteDance said on Saturday that it planned to “go dark” on Sunday unless the Biden administration made “firm” assurances that the ban would not be enforced.
Perplexity is an artificial intelligence search engine startup that launched last year. CNBC reports that it is worth about $9 billion.
Perplexity is an artificial intelligence search engine startup that launched last year. CNBC reports that it is worth about $9 billion. (NurPhoto via Jaque Silva/Getty Images/Getty Images)
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USA on Friday The Supreme Court approved The bipartisan bill cited national security risks due to its ties to China.
Although ByteDance has suggested that the “Shark Tank” investor will not sell TikTok Kevin O'Leary spoke to Fox News On Friday, he offered $20 billion for it.
President-elect Trump has said he will likely seek a 90-day extension of the ban, which was allowed in writing the law. (Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“There's a reason Congress put this decision before the Supreme Court. There's a reason they ruled in favor of it. It's not worth the risk,” he said. “And so the obvious solution is to sell it to an American syndicate, according to the order.”
FOX Business has reached out to Bytedance and Perplexity AI for comment.
