AI Startup Perplexity Wants to Buy TikTok, Open Source the ‘For You’ Feed

As we move closer to an April 5 deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok to a US company, AI startup Perplexity has once again thrown its hat into the ring as a potential buyer.

“All of society benefits when content feeds are liberated from the manipulations of foreign governments and globalist monopolists,” it says.

Perplexity didn’t announce where the funding would come from for the acquisition. The startup is looking to raise funding at an $18 billion valuation, Reuters reports, but TikTok’s US operations have been valued at up to $50 billion by Bloomberg analysts.

Nonetheless, Perplexity argued in a blog post that it is “singularly positioned to rebuild the TikTok algorithm without creating a monopoly.” It also wants to open source the TikTok For You feed.

Among its ideas is to extend Perplexity’s citations to TikTok videos, “making it easy for users to cross-reference information in real time as they watch videos.” The company also says “combining Perplexity’s answer engine with TikTok’s extensive video library would allow us to build the best search experience in the world, providing both TikTok and Perplexity users to the answers they seek, anywhere, anytime, no matter the medium.”

The AI startup has some deep-pocketed competition. A group led by Frank McCourt, the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has proposed plans to transition TikTok onto a blockchain, also in the name of liberating users’ data.

In January, it was reported that the Trump administration was working on a deal whereby Oracle and a group of investors would acquire the majority of the company, while TikTok’s current owner, China-based ByteDance, would retain a minority share. Oracle would have responsibility for collecting data on US users and the app’s algorithm, as well as software updates.

Wyoming entrepreneur Reid Rasner also says he put in a bid at $47.45 billion.

Perplexity, however, says an “acquisition by a consortium of investors could in effect keep ByteDance in control of the algorithm, while any acquisition by a competitor would likely create a monopoly in the short-form video and information space.”

X owner Elon Musk was at one point rumored to be interested in acquiring the company, though these rumors were strongly denied by both Musk and ByteDance.

Perplexity made a similar bid for TikTok in January ahead of the original Jan. 19, 2025, divestiture deadline. When he took office, President Trump delayed that deadline for 75 days via executive order. Earlier this week, Vice President JD Vance expressed confidence about the chances of a deal being signed off in time for the deadline.