Oracle will oversee TikTok’s algorithm for U.S. users as part of a pending deal to transfer the platform’s U.S. operations to majority American ownership, according to White House officials. The arrangement addresses a key concern in the long-running effort to place the popular social media platform under U.S. control.

Under the agreement, TikTok’s U.S. operations – along with a licensed copy of its algorithm – will be transferred to a new joint venture based in the United States. ByteDance will provide the licensed algorithm for use in the U.S., while Oracle oversees its application and retraining on American user data. 

The ownership group will have majority American investors and be governed by a board with primarily American directors, a senior White House official confirmed.

As CNN reports, Oracle and private equity firm Silver Lake will be among the investors, alongside existing ByteDance investors and new participants. A source familiar with the matter clarified that Fox Corp. is expected to be part of the ownership group. ByteDance will retain less than a 20% stake in TikTok’s U.S. operations.

Algorithm Management

The fate of TikTok’s algorithm – the content recommendation engine central to both its popularity and security concerns – represents a critical component of the deal. U.S. officials had worried ByteDance could be compelled to manipulate the algorithm on behalf of the Chinese government.

Under the new arrangement, the U.S. ownership group will receive a copy of the algorithm code from ByteDance, review it, and retrain it on U.S. user data. Oracle will continuously monitor how content is delivered to users, expanding its existing partnership with ByteDance for storing TikTok’s U.S. user data domestically.

Regulatory Process Continues

The deal awaits formal regulatory approvals from China, although U.S. officials have expressed confidence in its completion. Trump plans to sign an executive order declaring the deal constitutes a qualified divestiture as required by last year’s ban-or-sale legislation, while extending the enforcement pause by 120 days to finalize paperwork and regulatory approvals. 

ByteDance is expected to finalize a framework agreement with the new U.S. ownership group, with details of the final investor signatories still pending.

“We are 100% confident that a deal is done,” House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on September 20, adding it would likely be signed “in the coming days.”

Despite White House assurances, some lawmakers remain skeptical. Representative John Moolenaar, Republican chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, questioned whether the arrangement adequately addresses security concerns.

“I am concerned the reported licensing deal may involve ongoing reliance by the new TikTok on a ByteDance algorithm and application that could allow continued CCP control or influence,” Moolenaar said in a statement.

The deal, expected to be worth billions of dollars, would conclude years of regulatory scrutiny over the platform’s approximately 170 million U.S. users, who have faced uncertainty about the app’s future since the passage of divestiture legislation in 2024.

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