ByteDance has signed an agreement to sell its US TikTok division to a consortium of US investors. The deal ends a years-long saga surrounding the app, which was prompted by national security concerns. TikTok US is valued at $14 billion.
In the autumn of 2025, both sides, Washington and Beijing, agreed on the basic terms for the creation of a joint venture to take over the management of TikTok’s key security functions in the US. Following the negotiations, Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX received a 45% stake, while ByteDance retained about 20%, according to Anxios.
Who will be responsible for protecting American data
According to internal agreements, the deal is scheduled to close on 22 January 2026. The new structure will be called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. Tech giants such as Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX from the UAE will own 45% of the shares, about a third will remain with ByteDance’s affiliated investors, and ByteDance itself will retain nearly 20%.
The joint venture will be responsible for protecting American user data, algorithm security, content moderation, and software control. The recommendation algorithm will be retrained on data from the United States to rule out external interference. Oracle will become a trusted partner for auditing and compliance with national security requirements.
In particular, Oracle began auditing TikTok’s algorithms and content moderation models back in 2022. The audit was intended to give lawmakers additional assurances that the American version of the platform operates independently of the influence of the Chinese Communist Party. And TikTok has indeed begun redirecting all American user data to Oracle’s cloud infrastructure.
These steps were part of Project Texas, an initiative aimed at convincing users that there was no external manipulation of content recommendations. The project’s name refers to Oracle’s headquarters in Texas. TikTok spent more than a year preparing for Project Texas, separating the backend functions and code of its American operations.
Long-standing battle with US government
TikTok and its owner, ByteDance, have been engaged in a long-standing legal battle with the US authorities, which has included presidential executive orders, lawsuits, and a 2024 congressional law.
The story of the confrontation unfolded in several stages. In 2020, the Donald Trump administration expressed concerns about national security and requested the sale of TikTok’s US assets, marking the start of a series of discussions with potential buyers and negotiations. These included Oracle and Walmart, but the talks did not ultimately result in a final decision, and the deadlines and legal framework were subject to change.
In 2024, Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok US or face a ban on the app in the United States. This law was the result of a joint effort to address concerns about data access and potential influence from Beijing. On 1 May, US President Joe Biden signed a law that, if the American division is not sold within a year, will result in a ban on TikTok. This could be interpreted as a significant challenge to the future of the video streaming app in the US, contributing to the broader technological dynamic between America and China.
The measure was included in a bill providing foreign aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. As Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell stated back then, Congress is not seeking to impose any penalties on ByteDance, TikTok, or any other company. It is taking steps to address the potential for foreign entities to engage in activities that could be perceived as espionage, surveillance, or malicious operations. Congress aims to safeguard vulnerable individuals, including American citizens, military personnel, and government employees, concluded Cantwell.
In January 2025, the US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the measure, which is likely to have increased pressure on ByteDance and accelerated diplomatic and commercial negotiations. At the same time, the Trump administration delayed the ban through a series of executive orders, in the hope of negotiating an acceptable deal structure and avoiding a complete shutdown of the platform for millions of American users.
This article was first published in Russian on 19 November 2025.
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