A group of American investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz, is nearing a deal to assume majority control over TikTok’s U.S. operations. As the negotiations progress, President Donald Trump has extended the deadline to ban the app in the United States to December 16.
Under the proposed agreement, the investor consortium would own 80 percent of a newly formed U.S.-based TikTok entity, with the remaining 20 percent retained by Chinese shareholders. Discussions between U.S. and Chinese officials are currently underway in Madrid to finalize the structure of the deal.
As part of the arrangement, a new American-led board will govern the platform, and one member will be appointed by the U.S. government. TikTok users in the U.S. would be required to migrate to a redesigned app, which is already in development. The new app would rely on recommendation algorithms licensed from ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, but rebuilt within the U.S.
The core of the negotiations revolves around TikTok’s algorithm, considered by China to be a state secret. Control over this technology is seen as crucial by American officials, who have cited national security and mental health concerns linked to the platform.
Oracle would be responsible for safeguarding U.S. user data, hosting it on servers located in Texas. This move aims to allay concerns about data privacy and prevent foreign access, which had been a sticking point in previous negotiations.
President Trump, speaking to reporters Tuesday, confirmed that the framework of the deal has been agreed upon and that he will be speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping soon to finalize terms. The resolution would allow TikTok to continue operating in the U.S., in compliance with legislation requiring it to restructure or cease operations.
The deal, if concluded, would resolve years of controversy surrounding TikTok’s ownership and its data practices, while also potentially becoming a model for how the U.S. handles foreign influence in domestic tech.
