New Delhi: After years of political pressure, legal uncertainty, and repeatedly extended deadlines, TikTok’s future in the US finally seems to be clear. Chinese parent company of short-video platform ByteDance has signed an important agreement to hand over majority control of its US business.
Under this deal, control of TikTok will now go to a group led by American investors, in which tech giant Oracle will play a major role. With this step, Washington’s long-standing concerns related to national security seem to be put to rest and the threat of a possible ban looming from 2024 has also been averted.
TikTok’s sale approved in America
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has signed binding agreements to sell a majority stake in its US business. TikTok CEO Shouji Chew, while informing the employees about this decision, called it a decisive step towards securing the future of the app in America. This deal ends the uncertainty that has continued for years.
Under whose leadership will the new structure run?
Under this agreement, a new joint venture will be formed, in which about 50 percent stake will be held by the Oracle-led investor group. This consortium also includes Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi investment firm MGX. ByteDance will hold approximately 19.9 percent stake, while the remaining shares will be held by existing investors associated with ByteDance.
22 January 2026 will be an important date
This deal is expected to be completed by January 22, 2026. After this, there will be a formal end to the pressure by the US government to sell the American unit of TikTok on the grounds of national security. The structure of the deal is largely in line with the framework that was announced last September, when President Donald Trump postponed legislation banning the app.
Questions still remain on algorithms and politics
Under the agreement, Oracle is likely to license TikTok’s recommendation algorithm, in which the feed will be retrained using data from American users. TikTok says that this will maintain the security of the users and its 170 million users in America will continue to get uninterrupted service. However, critics like Senator Ron Wyden believe that this deal will not bring concrete improvements regarding data privacy and security.
Impact on users, business and employees
According to TikTok, more than 7 million small businesses in America depend on this platform. Content creators hope that the experience of the app will remain the same as before. At the same time, reports indicate that the rules related to returning to the office from next year may become more strict for TikTok’s US employees, which indicates operational changes starting with this ownership change.
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