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In a widely anticipated agreement with China, the White House has announced that U.S. companies will assume control of TikTok’s algorithm, and American citizens will hold six of the seven board seats for the app’s U.S. operations.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt indicated that the agreement could be finalized “in the coming days,” although Beijing has yet to issue an official statement.
The U.S. government has been actively seeking to separate the video-sharing app’s U.S. operations from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, citing national security concerns.
TikTok had previously been instructed to divest its U.S. assets or face a potential ban within the country.
Former President Donald Trump initially announced a potential ban in January but subsequently delayed its implementation four times. Earlier this week, the deadline was extended once again to December.
Leavitt stated that Oracle, the technology giant owned by Larry Ellison, a prominent figure and Trump ally, will oversee data and privacy for the app in the U.S.
“The data and privacy will be led by one of America’s greatest tech companies, Oracle, and the algorithm will also be controlled by America as well,” she told Fox News.
“So all of those details have already been agreed upon. Now we just need this deal to be signed.”
David Ellison, Mr. Ellison’s son, recently acquired media conglomerate Paramount, which includes CBS News, solidifying the Ellisons’ position as a significant power in the media landscape.
Mr. Trump stated on Friday that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping had approved an agreement regarding TikTok’s U.S. operations during a phone conversation, although confirmation from Beijing remains pending.
On Truth Social, Trump described the call as “productive” and expressed his “appreciation” for Xi’s approval of the deal, which reportedly involves the sale of TikTok’s U.S. business to a group of American investors.
China’s state news agency Xinhua offered a less definitive account, quoting Xi as stating that Beijing “welcomes negotiations over TikTok.”
A key point of contention in the negotiations has been the ownership of the algorithm that dictates content delivery to TikTok’s 170 million U.S. users.
Speaking alongside British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in the UK on Thursday, Trump avoided answering a reporter’s question regarding whether an American buyer would be required to develop a new algorithm or if they could continue utilizing the existing one.
While Trump initially advocated for a TikTok ban during his first term, his stance has evolved. He has leveraged the platform’s popularity to bolster support among younger Americans during his 2024 presidential campaign.
In January, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law, initially passed in early 2024, mandating that ByteDance divest from its U.S. operations or face a ban. The app was briefly rendered inaccessible before the ban was postponed.
The U.S. Department of Justice has previously voiced concerns that TikTok’s access to U.S. user data poses a national security threat of “immense depth and scale.”
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The social media platform had faced a ban in the US over national security concerns.
The deal will pave the way to US ownership of the social media platform’s American operations, according to the US treasury secretary.
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