Search engines, tech giants, and YouTubers are all racing against each other to buy TikTok’s US operations, as the wildly popular app remains off app stores in the country.
In the running currently is US search engine startup Perplexity AI, which is now bidding to merge with TikTok, with US government getting half a share of the new company.
Competing with Perplexity AI are Microsoft and Oracle, both of whom are involved in talks for a deal, which is now being negotiated directly by the Donald Trump government.
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Another surprise entrant in the race for TikTok is controversial American YouTuber, Jimmy Donaldson — otherwise known as Mr Beast. Last week, he flew by private jet to make a bid for TikTok, and announced to his followers: “I might become you guys’ new CEO.”
The increasing interest in buying the short-video app comes as TikTok’s future in the US remains in limbo, and the app itself is still unavailable on US Google and Apple app stores.
That doesn’t yet hurt users that have already downloaded the app.
But Americans who don’t have the app, or who removed it from their devices in the few hours it went dark, are desperate to get their hands on it. And they are trying everything from VPNs to $50,000 second-hand cellphones to gain access to the app.
According to Associated Press, people have been listing phones preloaded with TikTok on online storefronts such as eBay and Facebook marketplace. The phones are priced anywhere between $340 to $50,000.
The agency said it was not clear how many such phones had been sold, but that those selling for hundreds had received the most bids.
It’s no surprise then that American billionaires and tech giants are falling over each other to get their bids in for the app worth as much as $50 billion, by some calculations.
How successful they would be, however, will likely depend entirely on the Chinese government. Beijing has rules in place that could give Chinese leadership the authority to approve any deal.
A spokesperson for Beijing’s foreign ministry also said this month that any acquisitions involving Chinese companies will need to comply with the country’s laws and regulations.
Though the spokesperson also said that Beijing believed companies should “decide independently” about their operations and deals.
Trump, the businessman?
Beijing’s American counterparts, meanwhile, are in not behind either.
On Saturday, President Trump said he was in talks with multiple people over buying TikTok and would likely have a decision on the popular app’s future in the next 30 days.
“I have spoken to many people about TikTok and there is great interest in TikTok,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One during a flight to Florida.
Reuters reported that the Trump Administration was working on a plan to save TikTok that involved tapping software company Oracle and a group of outside investors to effectively take control of the app’s operations.
Under the deal being negotiated by the White House, TikTok’s China-based owner, ByteDance, would retain a stake in the company, but data collection and software updates would be overseen by Oracle, which already provides the foundation of TikTok’s Web infrastructure, Reuters said, citing people with knowledge of the discussions.
Separately, American broadcaster National Public Radio (NPR) also reported talks between Oracle and the Trump government, saying officials from both sides held a meeting on Friday.
Other potential investors engaged in the talks included Microsoft, NPR said.
Trump has, meanwhile, denied he spoke to Oracle’s Larry Ellison about buying the app. TikTok, Oracle and Microsoft did not comment to either Reuters or NPR.
Perplexity AI’s bid
Search engine Perplexity AI had first made a bid for TikTok early this month but it has since revised that proposal to fork out a 50% share for the US government.
The update follows Trump’s comments shortly after his inauguration as president, wherein he said he wanted the US to have a 50% ownership of a joint venture involving TikTok. “With our approval, [TikTok] is worth hundreds of billions of dollars – maybe trillions,” Trump had said.
A Perplexity document shared with ByteDance and new investors proposed the creation of a new US holding company called “NewCo”, a person familiar with the proposal told Reuters over the weekend.
Under the proposal, ByteDance would sell TikTok US to the investors, which would give TikTok’s existing investors equity in the company. The proposal would also exclude TikTok’s core recommendation algorithm, which ByteDance would keep, the person said.
The US government would own up to half of the new structure once it goes through an IPO of a valuation of at least $300 billion.
Perplexity AI would also offer to be acquired by the holding company if its own investors received a distribution of the NewCo equity, the person said.
ByteDance and the White House did not comment to Reuters on the report.
Still, Perplexity AI believes its bid may be the one that succeeds since it is proposing a merger rather than a sale, Reuters reported citing sources.
- Vishakha Saxena, with Reuters
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