Perplexity Has Put In A Bid To Merge With Tiktok's Us Business

Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Hours before TikTok could go dark, AI startup Perplexity has put in a bid to merge with the platform's US business, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Perplexity has swept to prominence as a search engine built from scratch with artificial intelligence. The two-year-old startup takes in cash like oxygen, having raised back-to-back funding rounds just months apart last year.

CNBC reported the news earlier on Saturday.

Correction: January 18, 2025 — An earlier version of this story misstated who besides Perplexity is involved in this bid.