On Friday morning's episode of "The Glenn Beck Program‚" host Glenn Beck chatted with Kari Lake about the bombshell audio clip that appears to show former chairman of the Arizona Republican Party Jeff DeWit attempting to bribe her to keep her from running for the U.S. Senate seat in Arizona currently occupied by Democrat-leaning Independent Kyrsten Sinema."Is there a number at which [you] take a pause for a couple years and then come right back to what you're doing?" DeWit asked Lake‚ according to the clip. She vehemently refused. "$10 million? $20 million? ... No. A billion? No‚" she replied. "This is not about money. This is about our country."DeWit resigned from his position after the audio clip‚ which Lake secretly recorded at her home about 11 months ago‚ was released earlier this week. In his resignation letter‚ DeWit claimed that the clip was "selectively edited" and that he had merely offered Lake a friendly‚ "helpful perspective" about the viability of her candidacy‚ not a bribe.Beck has his doubts. The only way Lake could have taken the conversation "out of context‚" Beck said‚ would be if she had omitted DeWit saying something along the lines of‚ "Everything I'm about to say‚ I'm totally making up‚ Kari‚" or if he had simply been describing a movie‚ rather than giving her a legitimate offer on behalf of some unnamed GOP bigwig "back east.""This is not taken out of context‚" Lake insisted to Beck. "This is not creative editing. Creative editing would be a 30-second clip. This is a conversation about him bribing me. There's no ifs‚ ands‚ or buts."Still‚ Beck pressed Lake about several important issues related to the audio clip. First‚ he wondered why she had secretly recorded it in the first place. Lake claimed that she got "a bad feeling" in her stomach when DeWit called her that afternoon last year and asked if he could stop by since what he had to say‚ he had to say "in person‚" not "over the phone.""I thought‚ is there going to be a threat? Why does he have to come to my door and talk to me?" Lake recalled to Beck."That's why I recorded it. I just thought‚ if he's going to threaten me‚ I need to have this on recording."Under those circumstances‚ "I know I would record that conversation as well‚" Beck admitted‚ but he still wanted to know why she waited nearly a year to release the tape."I taped it because I was afraid there was going to be a physical threat‚" Lake responded. "And when there wasn't‚ I just kind of put that file away."Lake then noted that she did make reference to the alleged bribe in a speech at CPAC a few days after it occurred. "Somebody showed up at my door this week‚" she said at the popular annual conservative convention. "... They came to my door‚ and they tried to bribe me out of getting out of politics. ... This is how disgusting politics is."Despite the alarming allegation‚ no one ever asked her follow-up questions‚ Lake said‚ and she forgot about the tape until recently. Then she‚ her husband‚ and her daughter sat down and listened to it once again and were "shocked" by what they heard."Our jaws dropped to the floor. We were shocked‚" she told Beck. "I went‚ 'Oh my gosh. This is so much worse than I even remembered it being.'"At that point‚ she said she resolved to expose the bribe and the dirty politics that it represents. "Right now‚ Glenn‚ it seems we have a lot of corruption on the Republican Party‚" Lake said. "And I think a lot of it is resistance to Trump. They don't want Trump running ... because he will reveal a lot of the corruption."Beck couldn't agree more about exposing corruption‚ no matter which party engages in it. "That all has to be exposed‚" he said. "I can't call out corruption on the other side if I don't call it out on our side." — (@) Finally‚ Beck asked Lake about some of the allegations DeWit made in his resignation letter. Not only did DeWit claim he had been "set up" in that conversation‚ but he claimed that Lake's team then threatened to release another‚ more damning tape if he didn't immediately resign as chair of the Arizona GOP. "I'm truly unsure of [the other recording's] contents‚ but considering our numerous past open conversations as friends‚ I have decided not to take the risk‚" DeWit wrote. "I am resigning as Lake requested in the hope that she will honor her commitment to cease her attacks‚ allowing me to return to the business sector — a field I find much more logical and prefer over politics."Lake denied having "more tapes" or any recent contact with DeWit. "I haven't talked to him‚ returned any calls‚ even texted him in a long time‚" Lake told Beck. She then indicated that she couldn't have "blackmailed" DeWit since he never knew she'd recorded the conversation or that she planned to release it."Usually‚ if there's a blackmail situation‚ you say‚ 'This is going out if you do that.' He didn't even know until the media contacted him for comment. He didn't know it was going out‚" Lake explained. "This is a bunch of BS."Lake also hinted that DeWit was telling on himself by alluding to possibly more incriminating recordings. "I'm like‚ 'What could be more damaging than a bribery?'" Lake quipped. "I mean‚ what the heck is going on with this guy?" — (@) Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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As someone who's been a working journalist for 20 years at this point -- work that‚ to be more specific‚ has largely involved writing and publishing content for the web -- I was impressed right away after trying out the flagship release from Perplexity‚ a new AI-based search startup whose backers include Jeff Bezos. The company's search product‚ already in use by about 10 million people monthly‚ is something it calls an answer engine; it's essentially a clean‚ conversational‚ and ad-free Google challenger that's also‚ and this is the key thing‚ respectful of both the users it serves and the content it surfaces. When a user inputs a query into Perplexity's Google Search-like box‚ the linked sources that support whatever response is given are presented at the very top of the page. In a clear‚ concise‚ and easy-to-understand format -- not‚ in other words‚ buried under a series of ads and "People Also Ask" questions. "Instead of expecting users to parse through ads and SEO-driven page rankings that add clutter and waste time‚ the new era of search will be defined by concise‚ high-quality‚ and trusted answers with in-line citations‚" Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas told me in an email. "We built Perplexity to lead this shift. We believe a chatbot is the next interface for consuming information on the web‚ and we also believe people will start conversing more naturally with their devices‚ much in the same way they would with humans." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrggcbweDjc&;t=10s His startup‚ which operates with less than 40 employees out of a co-working space in San Francisco‚ launched less than two years ago -- but you wouldn't know that from the 53 million visits its website and apps got in November. Its profile has also risen lately thanks in part to raising $73.6 million in Series B funding‚ as well as a growing dissatisfaction with Google -- some of which is also coming from Googlers themselves. Google software engineer Diane Hirsh Theriault‚ for example‚ made waves with a recent LinkedIn post in which she blasted the company following the layoff of employees from its ad sales team as well as Pixel‚ Fitbit‚ and Nest divisions. The layoffs were greeted with internal grumbling that the now-annual layoffs are eroding Google's company culture. "Google does not have one single visionary leader‚" Theriault wrote. "Not a one. From the C-suite to the SVPs to the VPs‚ they are all profoundly boring and glassy-eyed." Those comments also come as Google is attempting a risky and consequential pivot of one of its biggest products -- Google Search‚ which has around 90% of the online search market share and‚ after years of serving up familiar blue links in response to search queries‚ is evolving toward just summarizing all the content from those links and using AI to directly answers questions inside of Google. Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at a congressional hearing in Washington DC. Image source: Ron Sachs - CNP/MEGA Basically‚ it's the same thing that Perplexity does‚ though Google's bigness sometimes arguably works against it. The search giant that can't always do the little things right (like stop surfacing erroneous and outdated content whenever I do a search for my name‚ for example) also routinely struggles with doing the big things well. Technology journalist Brian Krebs‚ for example‚ has a new piece out about malware hiding in some of those deceptive-looking ads you see at the top of search results. Theriault continues: "Right now‚ all of these boring‚ glassy-eyed leaders are trying to point in a vague direction (AI) while at the same time killing their golden goose. Given that they have no real vision of their own‚ they really need their subordinates to come up with cool stuff for them. At the same time‚ there have been rolling layoffs for the past 6-12 months throughout the company‚ including engineering‚ sales‚ support‚ UX‚ product‚ data science‚ SRE‚ everything. Just randomly firing people‚ torching institutional knowledge‚ and blowing up perfectly functional teams." As for Perplexity‚ among the investors who've provided some of its funding are two with ties to Google: Susan Wojcicki‚ the former CEO of YouTube‚ and Jeff Dean‚ Google's Chief Scientist‚ focusing on AI advances for Google DeepMind and Google Research. When the company announced its Series B just days ago‚ it added that Perplexity had served a billion queries in 2023. An impressive start for a company that's also next to zero marketing. https://twitter.com/perplexity_ai/status/1746947058924204514 Furthermore‚ Srinivas told me that Perplexity doesn't have to make a direct‚ frontal assault on Google or challenge its market share in order to succeed. "We are operating in a new segment of AI assistants‚ a segment where new businesses and products will continue to be created and expanded. In this arena‚ Google doesn't have a monopoly." Above the input box on Perplexity's main page‚ users see the words: Where knowledge begins. It's also where nothing short of the battle for the future of search likewise begins. "Perplexity is intensely building a product capable of bringing the power of AI to billions‚" said Cack Wilhelm‚ General Partner at IVP‚ who led Perplexity's new funding round. "The team possesses the unique ability to uphold a grand‚ long-term vision while shipping product relentlessly‚ requirements to tackle a problem as important and fundamental as search.” Don't Miss: I can’t wait for Apple’s Google Search rival to hit iPhone The post Perplexity is the fast‚ clean‚ and ad-free Google challenger the internet has been waiting for appeared first on BGR. Trending Right Now: 8 useful Netflix settings you probably don’t even know about