The Trump administration is working on a plan to save TikTok that involves tapping software company Oracle and a group of outside investors to effectively take control of the app's global operations, according to two people with direct knowledge of the talks.
Under the deal now being negotiated by the White House, TikTok's China-based owner ByteDance would retain a minority stake in the company, but the app's algorithm, data collection and software updates will be overseen by Oracle, which already provides the foundation of TikTok's web infrastructure.
That would effectively mean American investors would own a majority stake in TikTok, but the terms of the deal could change and are still being hammered out. Other potential investors who are engaged in the talks include Microsoft.
Officials from Oracle and the White House held a meeting on Friday about a potential deal, and another meeting has been scheduled for next week, according to the source involved in the discussions, who said Oracle is interested in a TikTok stake "in the tens of billions," but the rest of the deal is in flux.
While estimates vary on how much TikTok's global business is worth, negotiators in the White House have said ByteDance believes it could fetch at least $200 billion, putting it well outside the reach of any of the consortium of investors who have been promoting their bids, according to the source involved in the discussions.
Another person who has sat in on conversations with senior White House officials about a TikTok deal said appeasing Congress is seen as a key hurdle. A congressional staffer involved in talks about TikTok's future, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said binding legal agreements from the White House ensuring ByteDance cannot covertly manipulate the app will prove critical in winning lawmakers' approval.
Posted by John3262005
7 Comments
So it would be owned by one of Musks closest friends.
I’d honestly rather just have the Chinese propaganda at this point.
Sure add it to the heap of shit
i thought they couldnt make any sort of deal because the ccp outlawed byte dance selling the algorithm
Silicone valley propaganda is a much bigger threat to US and global wellbeing that CCP propaganda.
Trump campaigned on saving TikTok from a takeover, a move which was popular among some voters and megadonors. Now that he’s in office, he’s altering the deal to essentially what Biden and Congress already wanted. Perhaps ByteDance will finally cave now that there’s no hope of a rescue. Perhaps not.
It’s not so different from Trump’s position on Gaza. He campaigned on supporting Israel to the greatest extent possible. But as he came into office he leaned on Netanyahu to accept the same deal Biden wanted, so Netanyahu recognized he had no hope of anything better and agreed to it.
This seems like good news