TikTok Secures Future in US with New Joint Venture Deal

TikTok has finalized a landmark agreement to maintain its operations in the United States, ending years of uncertainty about the platform’s future. The popular video-sharing app has created a new US joint venture with major investors including Oracle, Silver Lake, and Emirati investment firm MGX.

The deal comes after Congress passed legislation earlier this year that would have banned TikTok in the US by January 2025 if it remained under the ownership of Chinese parent company ByteDance. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order extending TikTok’s deadline while his administration worked toward a permanent solution.

Under the new arrangement, American users will continue using the same TikTok app they’re familiar with, though some aspects of the experience may change. Perhaps most significantly, the algorithm that powers TikTok’s recommendation engine will be licensed from ByteDance but retrained on US user data.

“The retrained algorithm means that the trends — and what dominates feeds — will feel distinctly American,” explained Forrester analyst Kelsey Chickering. “Global content will still appear, but its ranking will change. This matters because the algorithm is the heartbeat of the app’s addictive experience.”

Industry experts note that even subtle changes to social media platforms can risk alienating users. Jasmine Enberg, an analyst for research firm eMarketer, pointed to past examples where algorithm changes disrupted user loyalty.

TikTok maintains that US creators will remain discoverable globally and businesses can maintain their international reach, though specific technical details about how this global interoperability will function remain unclear.

The deal also brings politically connected investors into TikTok’s orbit. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who remains a top executive with an estimated personal fortune of $225 billion, has previous relationships with the Trump administration dating back to the president’s first term. Vice President JD Vance reportedly played a key role in negotiating meetings that led to the arrangement.

These connections have raised concerns among some users about potential changes to content moderation policies. “If moderation happens to tilt toward one political viewpoint or fails to curb misinformation, TikTok risks a user exodus to rival platforms,” Chickering noted.

Questions also remain about whether the new structure truly addresses the national security concerns that prompted Congress to act. The law prohibits “any cooperation with respect to the operation of a content recommendation algorithm” between ByteDance and American owners, making ByteDance’s continued involvement through algorithm licensing potentially problematic.

For TikTok’s business users, the deal brings welcome relief from uncertainty while raising new questions. Skip Chapman, whose natural deodorant business KAFX Body generates 80% of sales through TikTok Shop, expressed cautious optimism.

“I’m hoping the new owners continue to prioritize e-commerce and add more features, more benefits, more opportunities for my business,” Chapman said.

Las Vegas restaurant owner Vanessa Barreat, whose TikTok page for La Vecindad Mexican restaurant boasts over 100,000 followers, adopted a wait-and-see approach. “Anytime there’s a major shift or deal, there’s uncertainty, but I’m not operating from fear,” she said. “TikTok has empowered so many voices that historically didn’t have access to platforms like this, and that impact doesn’t disappear overnight.”

The deal resolves immediate concerns about TikTok’s availability to its estimated 200 million American users, but the platform’s longer-term direction under its new ownership structure remains to be seen.