


While Oracle appears to be the leading candidate to purchase TikTok, Perplexity reiterated its desire to buy the platform after launching a bid in January. The artificial intelligence company suggested on Friday that it could create a new algorithm while improving the popular social media platform with its AI and search capabilities.
“To eliminate risks of user manipulation, we propose rebuilding TikTok’s algorithm from the ground up with transparency as the guiding principle,” Perplexity wrote in a Friday blog post. “Our promise is to turn TikTok into the most neutral and trusted platform in the world. To achieve this, we commit not only to developing a new algorithm but also to making the TikTok For You feed open source.”
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There is concern that if the algorithm isn’t rebuilt and ByteDance keeps its authority, the Chinese Communist Party could still have influence over the app.
Through an executive order, President Donald Trump set an April 5 deadline for TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, which possesses strong ties to the Chinese Community Party, to divest from the app completely. The Trump administration is in discussions with four companies seeking to acquire TikTok, with Oracle being a top contender.
This week, Oracle met with top aides from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) office, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, according to the New York Times.
Perplexity argues that it could combine its citation and search features with TikTok videos without creating a monopoly, a major concern for Trump on the campaign trail.
“This integration would allow users to seamlessly transition between TikTok’s scrolling experience and Perplexity’s powerful research capabilities—all within a single, unified feed,” the blog post said.
Last April, Congress passed a bill, signed into law by former President Joe Biden, requiring ByteDance to divest from TikTok or face a ban. The law initially gave the company until Jan. 19 to comply, but Trump later issued an executive order extending the deadline.
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Trump has said he would extend the deadline again to avoid a ban, but Vice President JD Vance, tasked with overseeing negotiations for the deal, said he is confident that a deal will be reached before the early April deadline.
“There will almost certainly be a high-level agreement that I think satisfies our national security concerns [and] allows there to be a distinct American TikTok enterprise,” Vance said.