President Trump is reported to be in talks with Oracle and other American investors over the future of TikTok in the US, after the Supreme Court upheld a law to ban the app unless its Chinese owner, Bytedance, divests or sells a portion of the company.
Under a deal that’s currently being negotiated, American investors would gain a majority stake in TikTok. Bytedance would remain as a small stakeholder, with control over the algorithm, data collection and software updates removed from its hands.
Oracle is said to be interested in a stake in the “tens of billions.”
“The goal is for Oracle to effectively monitor and provide oversight with what is going on with TikTok,” a source told NPR.
“ByteDance wouldn’t completely go away, but it would minimize Chinese ownership.”
Another source told NPR, “A key part is showing there is no operational relationship with ByteDance, that they do not have control. There needs to be no backdoors where China can potentially gain access.”
Representatives from Oracle and the White House held a meeting on Friday and another meeting is scheduled for next week.
After taking office, President Trump issued an executive order allowing a 75-day extension before the Supreme Court’s ban takes place, in order to allow a deal to be made.