Ai search startup Perplexity has made a bold bid to acquire TikTok, proposing to rebuild the social media app's algorithm from scratch and make it open-source. In a company blog post published on Friday, Perplexity outlined its plan to transform TikTok, which has been at the center of a heated acquisition battle involving tech giants like Oracle and Microsoft.

Perplexity claims it is uniquely positioned to rebuild TikTok's algorithm without creating a monopoly, combining its technical capabilities with its independence from larger tech companies. The startup's plan includes rebuilding the algorithm in American data centers with American oversight, making the recommendation system transparent and open-source, and upgrading the AI infrastructure using Nvidia Dynamo technology.

In addition to these changes, Perplexity also proposes adding citation capabilities to videos, similar to its existing features, integrating its search capabilities with TikTok's video library, and enhancing personalization for users who connect their Perplexity and TikTok accounts. The startup also plans to add multilingual capabilities through automatic translation.

The bid comes at a critical time for TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance has been reluctant to sell its US operations. The app has faced intense scrutiny from the US government, which has threatened to ban it due to national security concerns. In January, the Supreme Court ruled that the US could ban the app, leading to a 14-hour outage. President Trump subsequently signed an executive order delaying the ban, which is set to expire on April 5.

Perplexity is not the only contender vying for TikTok's US operations. Oracle, Microsoft, and a consortium of investors led by Frank McCourt are also in the running. However, Perplexity's bid is notable for its focus on open-sourcing the algorithm, which could potentially increase transparency and accountability in the platform's recommendation system.

It is unclear whether TikTok is taking Perplexity's bid seriously, given the startup's relatively small size compared to its competitors. Perplexity was founded in 2022 and has been valued at $18 billion in a recent funding round. The startup has gained attention for its bold marketing stunts, including a commercial featuring Squid Game actor Lee Jung-jae that mocked Google's AI Overviews blunder.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding Perplexity's bid, the proposal has significant implications for the future of AI development and social media regulation. If successful, Perplexity's plan could set a new precedent for transparency and accountability in AI-driven recommendation systems, potentially influencing the development of similar technologies in the future.

As the acquisition battle for TikTok's US operations continues to unfold, one thing is clear: the stakes are high, and the outcome will have far-reaching consequences for the tech industry and beyond.