After a six-year battle involving lawsuits, Congressional bans, and national security concerns, TikTok has secured its future in the United States. On Thursday, Jan. 22, the app’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, announced a deal to sell a majority stake of its U.S. operations to a group of investors, preventing a nationwide ban.
TikTok Stays in the U.S.: New Deal Ends Ban Threat
The Deal Details To comply with U.S. laws and address fears of Chinese government surveillance, ByteDance will reduce its ownership of TikTok’s U.S. business to just under 20%. A new American entity will be created, with more than 80% owned by a group of non-Chinese investors.
The key investors include:
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Oracle: A U.S. software giant.
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Silver Lake: An American investment firm.
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MGX: An investment firm from the United Arab Emirates.
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Michael Dell: The billionaire founder of Dell Technologies.
New Leadership and Security Adam Presser, TikTok’s current head of operations, will become the CEO of the new U.S. TikTok. The new company will be overseen by a seven-member board, the majority of whom will be Americans.
Crucially, the deal changes how the app functions behind the scenes. The new U.S. operators will “retrain, test, and update” the recommendation algorithm—the secret sauce that decides which videos go viral—using data from American users. Oracle will also have the power to review the app’s source code to ensure there is no outside interference.
What This Means for Users For the estimated 200 million Americans who use TikTok, the app will continue to work as normal. Despite the separation from its Chinese parent, TikTok confirmed that the U.S. version of the app will remain connected to the global version. This means American users can still watch and share videos with people around the world.
The End of a “Legal Odyssey” This agreement concludes a long saga that began in 2019. U.S. officials had warned that ByteDance could be forced to share American user data with the Chinese government. In 2024, Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to sell the app or face a ban. This new deal satisfies that requirement, allowing TikTok to remain on American phones.
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