EXCLUSIVE: The CEO of AI startup Perplexity, Aravind Srinivas, confirmed his company’s bid for TikTok U.S. and said the deal checks all the boxes for investors and President Donald Trump, including an ownership stake for the U.S.
“We’re not trying to be disruptive to the existing shareholders, but we’re also trying to get what President Trump wants, which is about American control and also the government getting equity in the new entity. I think that we are offering both of that,” Srinivas told FOX Business in his first on-the-record comments since news of the deal leaked last month.
Deal offer details
Perplexity, an AI search engine startup, in January submitted a bid to TikTok parent ByteDance, which would combine the company with TikTok U.S., and if at some point an initial public offering were to happen, the U.S. would receive warrants that would be 50% of the combined company.
TRUMP RESTORES TIKTOK, GETS SWORN IN
After briefly going dark last month, Trump restored TikTok’s U.S. privileges for its 170 million domestic users and floated the terms Perplexity is now offering.
“I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to stay up. Without U.S. approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars – maybe trillions. Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose.”
The proposed company would be American run.
“The main thing we are solving for is clear U.S. board control. We want to make sure there is accountability. American persons, an American company, is able to hire and fire the CEO of TikTok and have accountability that no data is going to China,” said Dmitry Shevelenko, Perplexity’s chief business officer. He also noted that TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, who attended Trump’s inauguration, is “very capable.”
FOX Business’ inquires to ByteDance and TikTok were not returned.
Search Synergies
Aside from the pro-U.S. proposed structure, Perplexity says there are many search synergies between the two, especially among next-generation users who are increasingly using TikTok for search and getting real-time videos of restaurants and other local spots.
This new proposed company could also take on search behemoth Google, which has had a contentious relationship with Trump over censorship during the election. Google denied these allegations, as reported by The Hill last September. Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google parent Alphabet, also attended Trump’s inauguration.
Google Rival
“It seems like they have unchecked power. We hope that through this sort of structure we can start to actually keep Google in check, too, because otherwise they could just do anything. They have YouTube, Google Search Monopoly. We hope to have, like, an interesting rivalry to Google through this process,” Srinivas said.
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Terms, financing and equity investors in a potential deal were not disclosed, but there is no shortage of interest.
“Big Silicon Valley billionaires, sovereign wealth funds from U.S. allied countries that want to be part of this new entity and are excited about it, including countries that are pledging big investments in the U.S.,” Shevelenko said.
TRUMP SUPPORTS LARRY ELLISON OR ELON MUSK AS TIKTOK BUYERS
TikTok’s other potential suitors could be many, including investor Kevin O’Leary, who is offering $20 billion. Additionally, Trump has said he’d be fine with Tesla’s Elon Musk and or Oracle’s Larry Ellison as potential buyers.
