American startup Perplexity AI, which is developing a search system based on artificial intelligence, has proposed a merger agreement with ByteDance with the business of a Chinese company in the United States. This is the creation of a combined company that would include Perplexity, TikTok US and new capital partners.
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According to CNBC, citing informed sources, California-based Perplexity AI is willing to allow TikTok shareholders to retain their shares in the combined organization.
By doing so, Perplexity could have access to all the videos posted on TikTok, which it could use to train its neural network.
According to the American publication’s source, the fair value of the deal is “well above $50 billion,” but the final amount will depend on how many current ByteDance shareholders want to remain part of the new structure.
In spring 2024, ByteDance publicly announced that it would not sell its business in the United States. But Perplexity AI, valued at about $9 billion, believes in the viability of the deal, since the proposal involves a merger and not a sale of TikTok US.
The American startup’s proposal was made known this Saturday, one day before the law that prohibits TikTok in the United States and suspends the operation of the platform in the country came into force. However, according to CNBC, the implementation of a possible merger will take months.
The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, announced today that he will restore access to the Chinese platform through a special order and will delay the entry into force of the law banning TikTok, giving more time to find a solution.
Photo: SOPA Images/Getty Images
Author:
Akhmed Sadulayev
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
