The Trump administration is working on a plan to save TikTok that involves tapping software company Oracle and a group of outside investors to effectively take control of the app’s global operations, according to two people with direct knowledge of the talks, NPR reported.
Under the deal now being negotiated by the White House, TikTok’s China-based owner ByteDance would retain a minority stake in the company, but the app’s algorithm, data collection and software updates will be overseen by Oracle, which already provides the foundation of TikTok’s web infrastructure.
That would effectively mean American investors would own a majority stake in TikTok, but the terms of the deal could change and are still being hammered out.
“The goal is for Oracle to effectively monitor and provide oversight with what is going on with TikTok.,” said the person directly involved in the talks, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the deliberations. “ByteDance wouldn’t completely go away, but it would minimize Chinese ownership.”
Forbes reported: The Trump administration and software giant Oracle — led by Larry Ellison — are discussing a deal to take over TikTok, according to NPR, the latest company that is rumored to be interested in buying ByteDance’s popular social media app to navigate around a U.S. ban.
A law passed by Congress and signed by former President Joe Biden last year bans TikTok in the United States unless ByteDance sells the app — a move driven by national security concerns over ByteDance’s ties to China. The ban took effect Jan 19, prompting TikTok to take itself offline for more than 12 hours, but the platform restored the service in the U.S. after Trump pledged to extend the sale deadline.
The ban is now set to take effect in about 75 days under an executive order signed by Trump, who has pushed for the platform to be taken over by a joint venture including ByteDance and new U.S.-based owners.
TikTok has pushed back against the law and argued a sale of the app’s U.S. operations would be infeasible, claiming in a legal filing in may the proposed ban was “simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally.”
TechCrunch reported: The Trump administration is negotiating a deal that would see Oracle take over TikTok alongside new U.S. investors, according to a report in NPR.
Lawmakers passed a bill last year forcing Chinese parent company ByteDance to either sell TikTok or see it banned in the U.S. The app went briefly dark before the law took effect on January 20 — until incoming President Donald Trump said he would issue an executive order delaying the ban.
At the time, Trump also outlined his “initial thought” on a deal to save TikTok — creating “a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership”
In my opinion, I think people who really like TikTok might be hoping that the current administration will fix this problem for them.