News Summary

Perplexity AI has submitted a revised proposal to merge with TikTok, which could result in the U.S. government owning up to 50% of the new entity. The proposed merger involves combining Perplexity with TikTok’s U.S. operations and additional equity investors. This move comes as a response to the Trump administration’s feedback, and aims to satisfy legal requirements that may force ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to sell the app’s U.S. operations or face a ban. The proposal suggests that the government would receive its stake following an initial public offering of at least $300 million. Despite ByteDance not responding to the initial proposal, the new structure might allow ByteDance to retain some ownership while ensuring the U.S. government’s interest. Additionally, there were discussions about Oracle potentially taking over TikTok’s U.S. operations, but no official confirmation has been made.