Whether TikTok stays with Perplexity AI's backing or goes, without that juicy algorithm ByteDance doesn’t seem willing to part with, the app won't ever be the same.

A new TikTok proposal is on the table. Perplexity AI has proposed a merger that would give the U.S. government a 50% ownership stake.

Perplexity's plan would allow the U.S. to own up to half of the new entity once it makes an initial offering of at least $300 billion.

Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 20 to extend the ban on TikTok, implemented by former President Joe Biden last year. The order granted a 75-day extension, which Trump said will allow him to consult with his advisors and heads of "relevant" departments and agencies to address national security concerns posed by TikTok.

In short, sure, the U.S. could ban DeepSeek if it wanted to. It has the capacity to ban things it doesn't like from countries it doesn't trust in order to protect its citizens' data. In the case of TikTok,