TikTok finalizes deal to keep operating in US
TikTok said Thursday it completed the deal to spin off its U.S. operations -- concluding a yearslong battle over access to the wildly popular video app for millions of Americans.
In a press release, TikTok said the new U.S. joint venture "will operate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances for U.S. users."
As part of the new joint venture, tech giant Oracle, UAE-based MGX and tech investment firm Silver Lake will each own a 15% take. The app's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, will retain a 19.9% stake in the venture.
President Donald Trump celebrated the finalization of a deal in a social media post on Thursday, saying, "I am so happy to have helped in saving TikTok! It will now be owned by a group of Great American Patriots and Investors."
"I only hope that long into the future I will be remembered by those who use and love TikTok," Trump added.
What does the deal mean for TikTok’s users?
For TikTok’s more than 200 million U.S. users, the immediate takeaway is simple: the app is here to stay.
The agreement is not expected to dramatically change the user experience overnight, but subtle shifts could emerge over time. One of the biggest sticking points in the dealmaking process was what would happen to the algorithm -- the secret sauce that makes TikTok so addictive.
Under the deal, the newly formed U.S. entity will “retrain” TikTok’s algorithm using data from American users, while Oracle will oversee the storage and security of that data.
Because the algorithm will be optimized on a different data set, that could lead to changes in how content is personalized and surfaced.
The global ByteDance-controlled TikTok entity will still manage important parts of the business, including e-commerce, advertising and marketing on the new U.S. platform.
Who will sit on the new board?
The seven-member board of mostly-American directors includes: TikTok U.S. CEO Shou Chew; Kenneth Glueck, executive vice president in the office of the chief executive officer at Oracle; executives at investment firm Susquehanna International Group and private equity firm Silver Lake; an executive at Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX, and others.
Oracle, led by Trump ally Larry Ellison, is one of the largest investors and also the new entity’s security partner.
What do we still not know?
Several key questions remain unanswered.
It’s unclear how much the deal values TikTok’s U.S. operations at. The Chinese government has not yet directly commented on the final agreement.
Some experts argue that the final structure of the deal may not fully satisfy the national security concerns outlined in the law passed by Congress.
The 2024 law requires that ByteDance have no operational relationship with TikTok’s US entity. That law was upheld by the Supreme Court.
TikTok went offline to U.S. users for 14 hours in January 2025 -- before President Trump said he would order the Justice Department to delay implementing the law.
The TikTok press release says the joint venture will also cover other apps in the ByteDance portfolio, including CapCut and Lemon8.
