Athira Sethu
Kochi, 22 March 2025
This month, President Donald Trump revealed that the United States was negotiating with four parties interested in purchasing TikTok. The popular video-sharing app, which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, risks being banned unless it is spun off from its Chinese parent.
One of the companies, the AI startup Perplexity, has indicated that it wants to buy TikTok. The firm wrote a blog in which it outlined how it would make TikTok better by merging its AI search tech with the video content of the app. According to Perplexity, the union would deliver the world’s best search experience.
Perplexity highlighted that its technology would enable rebuilding TikTok’s algorithm without the formation of a monopoly. The San Francisco-based company said it could offer an independent solution while having robust technical capabilities.
Trump said the U.S. was negotiating with four groups but did not specify them. He stressed that all four parties were good, and the choice was his. This followed after a U.S. law went into effect, which requires TikTok to distance itself from ByteDance by January 19 or be banned. The legislation was enacted amid fears that the Chinese government may use TikTok to spy on American citizens or sway public opinion.
Earlier, Trump attempted to prohibit TikTok on national security grounds during his initial presidency. The app was temporarily taken out of the American app stores, causing frustration among millions of users. Once Trump entered his second term in January, he suspended the ban for a couple of months, seeking a resolution with China. TikTok restored its services in America and was reinstated into app stores in February.
Although TikTok has not been interested in selling, other possible buyers are Microsoft, Oracle, and a consortium led by Internet personality MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson). Another consortium, “The People’s Bid for TikTok,” was initiated by real estate tycoon Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty.
Perplexity contended that even if a group of investors acquires TikTok, ByteDance might still be able to influence the algorithm. But if a competitor acquires it, it might lead to a monopoly in the short-form video space. Perplexity feels that society would be better off if content feeds were not subject to the control of foreign governments and giant monopolies.
In the event of Perplexity acquiring TikTok, the firm vows to establish data centers in America so that the app can be kept updated with American regulations. Perplexity also intends to re-architect TikTok’s algorithm and open-source the app’s “For You” algorithm so that users can authenticate the content they view on the app.
