Open source plans for US TikTok: Perplexity brings itself into the game

While time is slowly running out for a sale of the US division of the social media platform TikTok, Perplexity is entering the conversation with new ideas for legally compliant operation in the US. Among other things, the AI start-up, which operates a search engine of the same name, wants to disclose the source code of the TikTok feed in which users are shown new content – and make it open source. US President Donald Trump has given the company until April 5 to sell the American part of TikTok to a US buyer, otherwise it could be banned in the country.

However, the Chinese company Bytedance, which owns TikTok, has little interest in such a sale. The same applies to the transparency of the app's TikTok algorithm, a well-kept secret of the company. Fearing that the Chinese government could use TikTok to spy on US citizens and exert influence, US politicians decided last year: Either Bytedance sells the affected parts of the platform to a US interested party, who then continues to operate it – or TikTok is banned completely in the country. The platform was even blocked in the US for a few hours in January, but Trump temporarily lifted the ban again at the start of his term of office and gave Bytedance a further ultimatum for a sale. Perplexity has now published a blog post with its plans for TikTok after a possible takeover.

What Perplexity wants to disclose

This much in advance: Even with Perplexity, Bytedance's TikTok algorithm would probably not come to light. This is because Perplexity is planning to redesign it from the ground up in order to eliminate the risk of user manipulation. Transparency should be the guiding principle, the company vows. Short videos curated by the TikTok algorithm for each individual user will be displayed in a user interface called "For You" feed – – . Perplexity would like to make the "For You" feed open source, but this does not necessarily mean disclosing the entire US TikTok algorithm. The feed in question is likely to be closely related to the algorithm, but not necessarily contain it – Everything is subject to change, as TikTok's source code is generally not public.

The startup also insists on using American data centers under American management if it operates TikTok in America. The company also emphasizes that it does not want to create a monopoly with a potential purchase, pointing to its independence as a comparatively small tech startup. Perplexity has raised its capital in various financing rounds, most recently around 500 million US dollars in December. Previous backers include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and AI chip specialist Nvidia.

Even if Perplexity wanted – to establish a monopoly, the startup would hardly be able to do so in the face of enormous competition from the Meta Group or Elon Musk's Platform X. However, Perplexity sees precisely such competitors as a danger if they were to buy the TikTok division. US President Trump has already emphasized that he would be particularly happy if X founder Elon Musk or Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison were to strike. Otherwise, consortia of various investors are still on the table as buyers, which would run the risk of ByteDance retaining control of the algorithm, Perplexity believes. However, the relevant US law expressly prohibits this.

The start-up also envisions a few technical innovations for TikTok. For example, the networking of TikTok's immense video library with the AI-supported Perplexity search engine. Both will be available in the other medium. For example, TikTok videos could be enriched with contextual information provided by Perplexity.

Many visions and little money

So far, these are all just visions and promises with which Perplexity is trying to get itself talked about as a buyer. And these talks – if there are any – are unlikely to be easy. Bytedance recently called for a TikTok purchase price of at least 200 billion dollars, which is likely to far exceed the budget of all potential investors. Analysts estimate the value at between 30 and 50 billion US dollars. By comparison, Perplexity has been valued at around nine billion euros since the last financing round.

The company is obviously hoping for the favor of the US government and the support of other investors by presenting itself as a possible future operator in an emphatically responsible manner. Without additional support, a TikTok purchase is hardly realistic. According to a Bloomberg report, talks are already underway for a further round of Perplexity financing. But there is little time left until April 5, as Perplexity's better-funded competitors are well aware.

(nen)