How TikTok app may become ‘Indian-American’ from Chinese if this proposal goes through

A US search engine startup, Perplexity AI, has reportedly submitted a proposal to merge with TikTok US, the Chinese-owned platform’s parent company ByteDance. According to a report in Reuters, a source familiar with the matter, US search engine startup Perplexity AI submitted a bid to TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance for Perplexity to merge with TikTok US. For those unaware, Aravind Srinivas is the CEO and co-founder of Perplexity AI. He co-founded the company in 2022 with Andy Konwinski, Denis Yarats, and Johnny Ho.

Srinivas was in India recently and met PM Narendra Modi. Last week, Perplexity AI announced plans to expand the company’s operations in India, inviting applications for a strategic role.