Yesterday, Microsoft announced that its bid to buy TikTok from ByteDance had been rejected. It had been reported that ByteDance selected Oracle to be its technology partner for U.S. operations, but it was hard to confirm. Today, Oracle provided a statement:
Oracle confirms Secretary Mnuchin’s statement that it is part of the proposal submitted by ByteDance to the Treasury Department over the weekend in which Oracle will serve as the trusted technology provider. Oracle has a 40-year track record providing secure, highly performant, technology solutions.
CNBC reported that this deal still needs U.S. government approval.
The executive order that President Trump signed on August 14, 2020, required ByteDance to divest itself from Musical.ly (now known as TikTok). It must do so within 90 days of the signing of the executive order. Any data obtained or derived from the TikTok application or Musicial.ly application derived from users in the United States must be destroyed.
Later, CNBC reported that, according to people familiar with the matter, the proposal between ByteDance and Oracle would keep TikTok together under ByteDance’s operational control. Oracle will be a trusted technology partner who will store and secure the data within U.S. premises. TikTok said it is planning to disclose its algorithm to third parties.
ByteDance has submitted a proposal that avoids selling the U.S. assets or all of TikTok, CNBC reported. This doesn’t match the requirements in the executive order. That could mean that TikTok will soon have to close down within the United States. The longer this goes on, the messier it gets.